The Many Possibilities
by Calliecature
Summary: A series of one-shots concerning Roger, Jessica and other characters in different Alternate Universes. Chapter 7: Binary Swap AU Musical Song Number. What if Rhoda wasn't that oblivious with her feelings in her pre-relationship with Jesse? Inspired by the song "Oh My God, I Think I Like You" (Warning: song is sexually explicit when searched. The fic isn't).
1. Binary Swap Cops and Robbers AU

**Title:** My Furry Little Spitfire

 **Summary:** Girl!Roger detective should have really thought twice before forming an alliance with the mysterious green-eyed thief.

* * *

Rhoda Rabbit had always been described as sweet. Even gentle. When she isn't being a klutz. That's why it was such a surprise when she chose to be a detective's partner. Solving cases aren't exactly a trip to the park.

Rhoda paid them no mind. Having a new case in their hands has a way of speeding up her heart. Tracking whodunit brings a light in her eyes. Having justice done? Incredible.

But throughout her career, Rhoda believed that nobody could be that bad.

"I HATE YOOOOUUUU!" she screamed.

But she did have her limits.

The masked man didn't even bother to look up. "Stop struggling, dear. It will just get tighter."

She let another scream of frustration. The more she tried to struggle against the tough, strange wires wrapping her from shoulder to shins, the more it did tightened. It was like a new kind of toon-proof rope.

"I thought you were better than this!" she screamed again.

Was she mad? No, she wasn't mad. She had burned past enraged seconds after she realized the Brutus Act.

She looked around, trying to find something, anything that could at least help her not to make this any worse.

Why did she became a detective again? Edna is going to kill her.

She stopped struggling, trying to find any part of her body that she could still move.

Rhoda as a rookie, was assigned to Edna Valiant, the veteran. Before, she knew Edna thought she's a pest. But they did get past that. And although their bond as partners has grown, Rhoda did kept one tiny thing from her partner: her sort-of-alliance with the man that just betrayed her and was currently betraying her.

She bit her lip. She could still move her ankles… and her fingers. Maybe if he stood close enough, she could at least head bash him like there's no tomorrow.

"Hey!"

The man languidly inspected a jewel before placing it back on the table. His sleek black suit was a contrast to the pale _bauta_ mask that framed emerald eyes. A villain famed by his mysterious appearances at high-security places, striking at the deepest of the night. The Masked Phantom, the newsrags calls him.

For some reason that Rhoda couldn't grasp, the concept of the phantom was popular to women. But that isn't important right now.

A growl rumbled in her throat. There had been many opportunities that she could have taken off his mask. Cuffed him. Report him to the police. But did she do that? No!

The Masked Phantom is wanted for major heists. But in her past investigations, she noticed he only messed with the corrupt… for good. He never hurt anyone. And when confronted, his first move is to escape.

When she told her partner about her observations, Edna simply said, "A criminal's a criminal, rabbit. There's no honor among thieves."

Rhoda always trusted Edna's deductions. Except for the Phantom. In her many investigations with Edna, she had encountered the mysterious humanoid. Behind Edna's back, she had even tended his wounds without lifting his mask, much to his surprise.

That was the start of a strange mutual alliance between the bunny detective and the mysterious masked man. They give each other warnings, leads and sometimes, support. They had even saved each other a couple of times. Rhoda wouldn't have him arrested because she believed he was a vigilante.

It turned out the vigilante is nothing but a common thief.

"You traitor! You broke our deal!"

He finally looked up.

"Deal? I thought we were in a working _relationship._ "

Her brows rose at his last intonation. But righteous anger engulfed confusion at her current situation.

"It's the same thing! I thought you were different!" she nearly spat. All the times they have secretly met to exchange information. All the times they have discreetly worked together. All the times they got each other's backs. In the end, he was earning her trust for the ultimate betrayal!

"Rest assured, detective. There's a good reason why you can't intervene this time."

"Why?!" she demanded. Hot steam snorted out of her nose. Here she was, on the ground, wrapped like a sushi and he was just standing there like he owned the place.

But he just cocked his head, a velvety voice resounding through his mask. "Don't worry your head over it, my furry little spitfire."

That just added fuel to the fire. How dare he play the charming marauder at a time like this!

"You're crazy!" she yelled, struggling now with her whole body that she bounced several times on the floor. "And stop calling me that!"

The first time she tried to stop him, she was a very enthusiastic and determined rookie. A rookie who improvised fire arrows with flaming marshmallows on sticks. She got the impression that he found her hilarious in their first encounter.

"Why not, my dear?" the masked man asked. Her blood boiled at the amused tone, which wasn't hindered by the mask. Never mind his strange endearments in their professional relationship. There was something about her that makes people treat her like a little sister.

That last thought was enough to make steam shoot out of her ears. All this time, he wasn't treating her like a comrade, an ally with a common cause. He was treating her as a ditz! Not a serious professional!

Hot tears stung at her thoughts. Maybe she is a ditz for thinking they have a form of camaraderie from all their midnight adventures. Maybe it had been all in her head.

But the sun will blacken before she'd let one tear drop.

Fire burst from her body, but the toon-proof wires remained bound to her. "Furry little spitfire?! Every-"

" _My_ furry little spitfire," he interjected, rolling up papers and pocketing them.

Inferno burned in her eyes. He's a dead man.

"Every word of that ridiculous name is degrading at its best!" she screamed with new-found fury. If she keeps on talking, maybe he'd linger long enough for one of her comrades to come in.

She glared at him. "First of all, I'm not yours!" she yelled, mentally threatening her abs to succeed a sit-up or she'd work them out for the rest of her life.

"Second, basing me by my fur is downright discriminatory!"

He seemed unperturbed under his _bauta_ mask as he casually walked towards her. Rhoda hoped her comrades were now near enough to hear her yelling.

"Third, stay my height out of this!"

A chuckle reverberated under the mask and he picked her up by the waist. More outraged than ever, she tried to kick him with her bounded legs. She could feel him smirk when her ears instinctively reach for his neck to throttle him.

"Fourth, I'm not a spitfire! You just had that effect on me!" she shouted at his face, her eyes sparking with fury. Would her mother forgive her for spitting at someone?

Admitting weaknesses to the enemy is foolish, but really, she was running out of things to divert his attention.

She suddenly stiffened when he suddenly pulled her close.

"Good," he says quietly, "Because after all these years, you seem to have no idea of your effect on me."

 _What?_

Her mouth dropped open. "W-what effect are you-"

"Hey!"

CRASH!

The Masked Man jerked away but didn't let go. They both looked up to see another white rabbit pointing a slingshot to his direction. Rhoda squirmed from his grip. Someone in a police gear… her brother had come!

"Roger!" she cried out.

"Let my sister go!"

* * *

 **End of Chapter**

 **Thank you for taking a minute or two to give your feedback :)**


	2. Future AU

**Title** : The Android Anomaly

 **Summary** : Future AU. Alien Anthropomorphs co-exist with humans in Earth. A Lagomorphian named Roger Rabbit must learn to live with a human droid rescued from a club.

* * *

It's funny how Organics forget that Mechas have sharper hearing than them.

"Are you insane!?"

"I know, Eddy, but," the second voice inflected a tone denoting of a higher stress level, "A weird thing happened a while ago."

"You crazy rabbit, do you even know how to handle Droids!?"

The android with red synthetic hair glanced down at her wrist.

 _Handle?_

With one purple-gloved hand she bent her other wrist back and forth.

"I know my job is to DDD. Disinfect, decommission and disassemble," the second speaker said, "But while I was doing that, I shock myself-"

The deeper voice spoke in an almost monotonous tone, "Roger, that's normal for you."

"-and you know how I get when I get hit with electricity. My fur puffs up!" the second voice quieted for a while, "And Eddy, she _laughed_."

She cocked her head. Laugh. The Lagomorphian called it weird. Why? His poofy fur reminded her of a cottonball that should not have reminded her of cotton at all. Is he not the weird one?

There was a sigh before the human spoke. "Laughter is programmed to club droids for ambiance. For all we know, it could be a coincidence. No A.I has ever been built to identify humor."

"Yeah, but-"

The male human's voice became testy, "So you did not follow the entire protocol because of a single incident?"

"It's just one droid. Besides, I talked to her. I told her a joke and she laughed again!"

Her mind worked with a silent hum. He is calling her past actions unusual. So why is she not the one being disassembled like most of the Droids taken from the club? It doesn't make sense.

The human's voice became monotonous again that Orgas would describe as dry.

"There must be really something wrong with her if she laughed at _your_ jokes."

"Hey! I resent that implication!"

She heard the human sigh.

"Fine, Roger. Do whatever you want with her and with 'whatever' I don't mean-"

"Jeepers, Eddy! I'm not keeping her for weird reasons!"

That word again. Firespice stood at the spot where she was ordered to wait, staring at the door.

The male Lagomorphian finds her weird so he did not deactivated her. But he is not doing it for weird reasons.

It doesn't make sense.

* * *

Roger climbed into his bed, yawning. He settled down under the cover, ready to close his eyes.

Then he realized he wasn't alone inside the room.

"Aaaaauugh!" Roger screamed, sitting up and clutching his blanket to himself, "Jeepers, Firespice! How did you get inside my room?"

The droid stared at him, "I followed you." How else could she get inside?

Roger slapped a hand over his eyes. Right, he has an android inside his house. The Lagomorphian doesn't own Mechas- even household ones. So he forgot that droids have the tendency to follow an Orga, waiting to do his bidding.

"Firespice," he said, "You don't need to watch me fall asleep."

She walked towards him and stood beside his bed.

"What must I do for you?"

The rabbit sighed. It's a good thing Baby Herman isn't around to stick a dirty punchline in this conversation.

"I got an old-fashioned Wifi. But I think you can still connect with it and just surf. Sit here," he said patting the chair beside the bed.

It took a while for Roger to instruct her how. Firespice stilled as waves of information rush through her.

Roger stared at her eyes that seems to be looking far way. Satisfied that that she was now preoccupied, he turned to the side facing away from her as sleep came to him.

* * *

Her whole world collapsed and recreated itself with the rush of new data.

Firespice flew through streams of information, her circuitry adjusting to the accumulation. Images flashed past, videos sped through and words –so many creating sentences creating paragraphs creating output pieces of endless humans went in and through her.

Something in her programming kicked in and attracted various data seemingly similar in one aspect.

A kid looks up and turns around, looking at the mall in Christmas time.

A foreigner touches snow for the first time.

A man climbs up the top of the hill, staring at the dome of stars.

A group of travellers point at the aurora as it dances in the sky.

A woman walks in awe inside a walk-in aquarium.

It took a while for Firespice to find what they all have in common.

Wonder.

Then something inside her clicked –wonder, she was experiencing wonder.

* * *

"Oi, look! There's Roger," Bugs Bunny said, waving his hand at the rabbit.

Lola Bunny turned to where her boyfriend was looking. She doesn't know Roger much except that he's closer to Bugs. He's pretty much like a cousin you grew up with but never really hang out with.

The Lagomorphian did a double take when he noticed them. In Lola's view, he looked rather shaken. She stumbled back in surprise when Roger zapped to her with rabbit speed.

With a look that can burn through paper, he clamped his hands on her shoulders. His grip intensified with the desperation in his voice.

"I need you."

KA-POW!

"OW!"

Bugs blinked, finding himself plastered against the wall in surprise. Lola casually flicked her smoking fist as Roger lay on the ground holding his nose with both hands.

"Jee'ers! Ah don'k mea' it lak dat! "

Bugs slowly stripped himself of the wall, careful not to make any sudden movements. "Don't worry, Lola. Roger's a good guy." _And remind me not to get you mad again_ , he thought.

Lola coolly glanced down at the fallen rabbit with one hand on her hip.

"Well, what do you need me for?"

Roger sat up, tentatively wrinkling his nose for damages.

"I need you to help teach someone where to buy girl stuff, you know," his face reddened, "Like underwear."

It should have been another usual morning. He had been below the stairs, Firespice had been up the stairs. He had looked up without meaning to.

Yes, she had come from a club but how should he know about that tiny detail –or the lack thereof? His work is just to deactivate and disassemble droids –not inspect them!

Roger shook his head. He was never been so glad to have that place raided and shut down.

"I'd like you to meet someone."

* * *

 _It's funny how lifelike droids are these days_ , Lola thought.

Both bunny and woman-droid walked side by side through the mall. It's a good thing one of them has a steel skeletal structure because they're literally laden with shopping bags.

Firespice could have been mistaken for a human. The synthetic skin is just as supple as real flesh, her movements are smooth and her deep feminine voice is just as natural to the ears. Even her unemotional expression could be mistaken for the calm demeanor of an anti-social.

Lola gave Firespice a sideways glance, remembering everything Roger had told her. She cocked a brow.

 _Is he for real?_

She's not an A.I. expert but droids having a sense of humor is too far-fetched. Lola rolled her eyes.

"Lola?"

The doe turned to her, "Hmm?"

"Are you Roger's relative? You both have similarities."

"Of course. Us Lagomorphians consider the entire race as an extended family." Lola explained. Then she shuddered. "And by similarities, I hope you only mean having two legs, two arms, a tail-"

She stopped. A droid asking questions?

"Why do you ask, Firespice?"

That was another thing. Besides the droid's strapless, high-slitted evening gown and her impossibly luscious built; her name is simply the last confirmation that Roger got her from somewhere…. sketchy.

Digital optic orbs flashed green with circuitry. She closed her eyes that almost fool Lola that she was grimacing.

"Too… many things."

* * *

"You disabled the protocol of a free-ranging droid so that she can have online connection?!" Lola hissed.

"She's not exactly a free-ranging droid," Roger said sheepishly. He slowly backed away in case the doe wanted to hit him again. "She's with me."

Lola's eyes twitched with the obvious while her hands make reasoning gestures. "That's against the law!"

"But we don't know why it's against the law here on planet Earth!" Roger replied. "They don't tell us anything!"

Lola resisted the urge to roll her eyes at his frank innocence.

The female lagomorphian pinched the bridge of her nose with a sigh. "As a member of my family in an alien planet, my lips are sealed. But!" She held up a finger before he'd hug her from sheer gratitude. Then she closed her fist for a good measure. No hugs. "When shit hits the fan and you get kicked back to planet Lagomorpha, I have nothing to do with this."

* * *

"Listen, Firespice. I'm glad that you're learning new stuff. But don't let anyone else know you can access the web."

She nodded, the miniscule movement, smooth and lifelike. "I have just read that A.I.s must not be given access online. But why did you?"

His ears formed shrugging shoulders. "Because you're different."

Her lid protectors closed over her digital visual orbs before revealing them again. An "instinct" programmed to occur while processing new information. Here he was again, rewarding an anomaly.

The Lagomorphian named Roger sighed. "Listen, Firespice. Can you give yourself a different name? Since the club closed down, you don't need that anymore."

This time, the processing took longer than necessary. Instead of "blinking," her digital eyes shone green. Millions of names rushed past her. Different intonations, different origins-

"What specifications do you have?" her voice rang out.

Roger shrugged. "Whatever you like?"

"What should I like?"

He looked at her in wonder. Is she as different as he thought? "Whatever you think is good for you."

"But it is your request. Your specifications will optimally fulfill your intention."

Roger sighed. Remembering the dog-eared baby book in earth. Generations after the first Lagomorphians moved to earth, they adapted earth English names to become more integrated with human culture. "What about Jessica?"

Her digital eyes formed back to green-ringed pupils. "Jessica?"

"It's a nice name. You can choose a different one if you found one that you really like."

The corners of her lips pulled into an accepting gesture. "I have no need to like. Jessica would suffice." She blinked, researching the name. "It means rich."

"It also means seeing the potential," Roger replied with a smile.


	3. Binary Swap Cops and Robbers AU Part 2

**Title** : My Furry Little Spitfire Part 2: Undone, Unsaid, Unnoticed.

 **Summary** : Continues after My Furry Little Spitfire. Roger has to deal with the after effects of the Masked Phantom's latest heist.

* * *

"Freeze! You're under arrest!"

Sirens wailing. Police cars flashed red and blue. More uniformed toons rushed in.

But the Masked Phantom paid them no mind. He lifted a grappling hook gun and shot it out, the iron claws biting a building's ledge.

He was off into the sky, police toons missing him by inches.

Officer Wile E. Coyote gritted his teeth, his binoculars locked on to the mysterious figure. The masked toon's figure is definitely humanoid. That would be an advantage. Humanoids cannot defy physics like anthropomorphs.

CRASH!

"He's been hit!" one of the police cried.

Wile grinned in triumph. The masked man was clutching his face, doubled over. He looked approvingly beside him.

Fellow police officer, Roger Rabbit looked steadily at the target, holding his slingshot. Since toons are not allowed to have weapons –even law enforcers- they have to resort to tooniness… and toys.

But the coyote's triumphant look vanished at Roger's grim gaze. School has deemed Roger stupid. What they didn't realize is his high level of bodily intelligence, giving him great accuracy.

Roger never misses.

But Roger never hurt anyone… before.

"Officer, he's getting away!"

The rabbit slung stone after stone, as though each and every projectile has done him a great personal wrong.

Wile looked worriedly at his friend. Roger uses his marksmanship to disarm criminals only. But... a shot to the face?

"He's seen you. He's making his moves unpredictable," Officer Daffy said.

The coyote looked back with his binoculars. True to Daffy's words, the Masked Phantom was now acrobatically scaling the building left, left, down, right, up, slide and turn! Roger's projectiles were missing him by a hair. Before they know it, the masked toon was nearing the top.

A growl was heard. Wile put down his binoculars to see Roger bending to lift a statue beside them. Roger grunted, his knees shaking from the weight.

"Whoa! Roger, toon physics, remember?" Daffy asked. "That only works when it's-"

With a yell almost like a warcry, Roger heaved it up and threw it to the Phantom's direction.

"-funny."

CRASH! BOOM!

"LOOK OOUUUT!"

The statue exploded. Parts of the building's concrete roof crumbled. Everybody below dodged for cover.

In the chaos, Roger grabbed a lamp post. Running away from it, he grabbed another lamp post. He walked back, his rubber arms stretching to the limit, before he flung himself to the sky.

Wile coughed from the dust and debris. In the dust floating from the impact, they could see what remains of the thrown statue. Beside it, the figure of the Masked Phantom, knocked away. Twenty feet from him, a rabbit slowly walked towards him. Slowly, because of the two ginormous mallets he was dragging behind him.

"Roger has lost it, hasn't he?" Daffy asked in wonder.

The toon police scrabbled in action.

"Roger!"

"What's he doing?"

"How did he get there?"

"We got to get to the top!"

"-I repeat! We need aerial back-up! We're in-"

Wiley saw Roger raised a mallet, the Phantom rooted to the spot.

BOOM!

Wiley shielded his eyes again from the debris flying from another impact.

On the top of the building, Roger's chest rose slow and heavily. On either side of the mallet he had strike with, two legs had instinctively parted to avoid injury. The masked man stared at the mallet too close to his crotch.

"That is a warning shot," Roger said, his eyes hard.

A chuckle pierced through the grim silence. Emerald eyes smirked through the cracked mask.

"Fiery as your sister, aren't you?"

Blue eyes widened. With a yell, he raised his other mallet.

"Stay away from-"

Then he's gone.

The rabbit paused. Where did he go?

"Roger!"

He whirled around to see toon police, some leaping, some flying to the roof of the building.

"There he is!"

His head whipped around to see the masked toon being chased across the rooftop, far away, by other police toons.

* * *

Roger sighed, his hands in his pockets, leaving the Chief's office. The Chief yelled at him for breaking from the patrol and letting the Masked Phantom get away. Then the Chief yelled some more that if he tried to pull the "lone hero" act again, not only was he going to be banned from any case related to the Phantom, he'd rip off his badge and kicked him out himself.

"Roger."

He looked up to see Wile E. Coyote waiting for him. Shrewd yellow eyes watched him.

"Let me buy you a drink."

"I don't drink, Wiley."

"Your kind of drink."

* * *

A waitress placed a giant carrot milkshake on the table.

"I've read your report of what you've witnessed in the Phantom's latest heist," Wile said as soon as the waitress disappeared. "You mentioned seeing your sister captured." He raised a brow, nursing his plain vanilla. "Care to tell me what you didn't put in there?"

"It's nothing important," Roger said, his ears drooped as he ignored the orange creamy drink in front of him.

"Roger…" Wiley warned.

The rabbit took a deep breath before letting the words out in one whoosh. "I saw them in a compromising position."

The coyote blinked. "You saw him-"

Roger waved his arms around, almost knocking his milkshake. "No! Not like that!"

The rabbit looked around before speaking again. "He wasn't doing anything to her. But…"

"But?"

Roger gulped, looking at his lap. "He was embracing her. Their foreheads were touching. And he was saying something."

He shook his head at the memory of the intimate scene. "I asked Rhoda what was that about. You know, after she was alright and all," he shrugged. "She said he was just playing in-character of what the papers painted him."

Wile raised a brow. He had been analyzing the case of the Phantom Mask. But narcissism did not apply to the mysterious criminal.

"I've talked to your sister. She seems fine," the coyote replied.

"I can't get the image out of my head!" Roger said in frustration, yanking his rabbit ears. "What kind of a brother am I if I can't protect her from things that can't be undone?! What would have happened if I didn't get there on time?! Jeepers! A humanoid? She's just a rabbit girl! What if he's some kind of a creep?!"

The rabbit shuddered, pushing his carrot milkshake away.

 _And there we have it._ Wile internally nodded. Roger who had always been the office clown. Roger who had mastered the art of shooting to disarm, not harm. Good ol' jolly Roger who had suddenly turned into a ruthless marksman out of protectiveness.

Wile put a hand on his shoulder. "Roger, from what I analyzed from the Phantom's personality profile, his motives are never sexual."

Roger's eye twitched at the last word. Wile clapped a hand on his shoulder.

"Roger, our job is to get him. Don't let him get _you_."

Roger grunted, his ears drooped.

"Besides, I doubt that your sister would let herself be involved with criminals in any way."

* * *

The moon shone bright over ToonTown.

A lone rabbit walked on one of the highest building's roof, her gloved hands deep in her trenchcoat.

She sighed before speaking.

"I get it."

She turned around to see the Masked Phantom sitting casually behind her, as though he had been there all along.

"When DeGreasy's body was discovered, he had been shot in the heart. If I went into office's other door, I would have picked up the gun before I would have seen the body." She cocked her head. "Why didn't you tell me before?"

"There was no time," he simply replied, his _bauta_ mask muffling his real voice.

"And you were with me all along, you couldn't' have killed him," Rhoda said. "But instead of me getting framed, it was you."

The masked man nodded. "DeGreasy had it coming. But I needed something in his office."

Rhoda said nothing. DeGreasy was known to dabble in illegal gambling. She and Edna Valiant would eventually find out what papers did he took.

"Thank you... for not getting me framed."

She considered apologizing to him too. But then she frowned. "That was a low, underhanded trick though."

He glanced at the moon. "We'll eventually be found. Even with the diversion caused, there are too many of them. You have to be seen as an innocent victim of circumstances."

"I'm a good actress!"

"And a bad liar," the masked man chided, his deep muffled voice amused. That wasn't true, actually. It was amazing how the rabbit had kept it from her shrewd veteran partner of their alliance. But Rhoda's surprising temper was an amusing discovery. With a disadvantage of not having a hidden identity; Rhoda had always been careful on what she would let him know.

That was why every little thing he discovered about her is a gem.

Rhoda only harrumphed, crossing her arms. Then she looked up as though remembering something.

But then she clammed up again. Looking away.

He internally smirked. She was going to ask something. But she was hesitating. It had been something he discovered three months after their secret alliance.

As much as the suspense was riveting, it was cute letting her squirm.

She finally took a deep breath and spoke. Her arms hang loosely, but he could see how her shoulders tensed.

"About that time, what effect that I have in you are you talking about?"

Emerald eyes looked at her through the mask. Those words back then were said out of frustration. He had hinted about it. Flirted. But she never saw him more than a professional asset. But the week after their latest heist, he had been thinking. Getting her too involved with him could mean disaster ...or Dip.

"The inspiration to fight the bad guys more," he simply said, his hands gripping the ledge he was sitting on.

Rhoda actually looked relieved, it almost felt like she told him no. But what's the difference? He was letting her go without her ever being his, wasn't he?

Years ago, if someone has told him he would fall for a rabbit, he would have laughed. Not a lot of things could make him chuckle, much less, smile.

But then he had met her.

"R-really? Phew! Hahaha, for a moment back there you really, really scared me!"

Rhoda ran her gloved hand over her rabbit ears. She and the Phantom? The very thought of them having a date in an ice cream parlor with his mask on was laughable. What would he even see in a rabbit like her?

And yet…

She mentally shook her head.

The stood beneath the moonlight, unaware of the words unsaid.


	4. Next Generation AU

**Title: Remember Jack and Rose?**

"You can't be serious!" Roger exclaimed.

Jackie huffed, crossing her arms. Her father doesn't take things seriously for a living. But this?

"I AM serious, Dad!" she exclaimed. "I've joined the women's boxing club in ToonTown!"

Roger looked at his humanoid daughter. Her eyes which are often bright and earnest, are now a stubborn blue. Jessica had always said their daughter got his eyes. But he could never understand where Jackie got her brashness.

"B-b-but," he looked helplessly for support. Jessica and their son simply stared back, their green eyes watching silently. Breakfast was supposed to be a quiet ordeal (as quiet as the Rabbit household could be). "Humanoids get hurt easily!"

"Well, I'm part-rabbit too!" Jackie shot back, rising up and slamming the table. Her rabbit ears stood up straighter in defiance.

"But not as resilient as me!" Roger cried. For a moment, the fifteen year old girl in front of him shimmered back to his little baby girl covered with scratches and band-aids. She got his wackiness but not the body to sustain it.

"Dad..."

Roger whirled around to see that Ross has spoken up. A rabbit too, just like him. Only the similarities stopped there. Whatever elegance Ross inherited, it sure wasn't from Roger.

Ross' calm eyes reached out to him, serious and analytical. "Jackie is athletic and had performed in track and gymnastics. Sports of endurance and speed. She will be able to handle boxing."

He glanced at his twin. Ever since they were kids, Jackie was entered into sports to spend off her endless energy. But now, she was getting frustrated at the limited numbers of women's sports.

"Don't you like cheerleading anymore?" Roger asked.

Jackie snorted, flipping her short red hair. "That was a compromise because the coach won't let me in the football team."

Roger stared at the swaying chin-length hair. When she was little, she had chopped her hair short because it was getting in the way. "Getting in the way of what?" Roger had asked. He had almost had a heart attack when she said something about flying lessons involving the ceiling fan.

"Dad, we know you're just trying to take care of us," Ross reasoned, putting a hand on his father's arm. "But we're in the age of exploring our capabilities. How would Jackie know if she would never try?"

Jackie couldn't help but look hopefully at her twin brother. Whenever Dad would get that pleading look, guilt would haunt her even if she got her way.

"I know you're worried about Jackie, Dad," Ross continued, his voice cool and stoic. "But girls would bloom into flowers-"

Jackie's chest tightened. Ross was never the talker but he could be so poetically sensitive and sweet.

"-and Jackie rises with the spirit of a gorilla."

"Aaaw..." she exclaimed, clasping her hands together beside her cheek. Her rabbit ears twitched together, unconsciously framing a picture of sugar and cuteness.

CLANG!

Jessica continued to nibble her toast while Roger was pasted against the wall. Jackie had leapt over the table and unto Ross with an Amazonian war cry.

The kitchen table's centerpiece was gone and so are two of the table's occupants. Only the blur of commotion could explain their whereabouts. Jackie was swinging her fork and Ross was parrying it with a single stem rose. Her temper flared up several degrees as his "cool character" trait (which he got from their mother) nullified the laws of toon physics.

"You little sass! What do girls even see in you? Teenage rabbit heartthrob, my foot! I oughta snap you in half and fritter you like apple pastry! Only no one will eat them 'cause-"

"You don't know how to bake," Ross pointed out, calmly fending off her rants and 'sword' with his romantic weapon.

Jackie screamed in annoyance. Roger cringed at the crash of furniture. He was about to stop them when a chuckle broke out that caught his ear years ago before his heart.

"She has your fire," Jessica said, watching them lovingly while the twins bicker, "and more."

Roger was about to speak his worries when she touched his hand.

"Let them be their own person, Roger. You know we'll be there for them," she said.

Roger smiled at his wife, squeezing her hand in a silent agreement. Crashing, comebacks and chaos continued. But that's just another day in the Rabbits household.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** well, this chapter is shorter than what I would do. But I'm happy with it. I've always wondered how Jack and Rose would be in the original universe that followed the movie's script and story. What do you think?


	5. Binary Swap Medieval Fantasy AU

**Binary Swap** **Medieval Fantasy**

 **Title: "The Prince" and the Fool**

 **Summary:** Ser Jesse Krupnik, highborn and sworn knight of House Acme, meets a commoner, Rhoda Rabbit the Fool.

 **XOXOXO**

He had always been a strange knight.

The sheen of leather flashed down the stoney hall. Steps echoed, paced but having a heaviness that could not be heard. Lady Acme's voice echoed from his memories.

 _"_ _You've always played the harp so beautifully. How come you don't play it anymore?"_

He barely remembered his own parents. All he knew was that they were from a lesser House. His mother had died at childbirth. His father? He had been barely present, their coffers, Jesse had heard was getting lesser. He became a ward under Lady Acme as a young boy before his father's death.

Lady Acme always had been partial to beautiful things.

 _"_ _I can't play it anymore. I just can't."_

How can one explain when music just died inside you? When you don't hear it anymore? Whenever Jesse would close his eyes, all he sees is a barren land.

As he became older, he had began to notice the riches in House Acme. Ornate carriages. Embroidered banners. Gilded mirrors. Exotic peacocks. Pretty things. Beautiful things.

He had always been told he was beautiful.

Even as a young boy. Wavy auburn hair that frame startling green eyes. A strong chin. As he grew to a young man, the claims only become stronger.

Along with her aesthetic collection, there were alluring men older than him but junior to his Lady's age. When she would touched his arm that made him feel mysteriously sickened, he had a fleeting feeling about his fate.

Orphaned with nothing else, Lady Acme had allowed him to be taught by the keep's Master-of-arms. So he did. Though he'd rather spend time in the castle's library or play his harp. He did so just to please.

" _Your tunes used to tinkle. Now they're just flat._ "

He had the body but not the passion, the Master-of-arms had said. It was true. People praised his swordsmanship. But for him, it was just as natural as picking something from a high shelf because he just happened to be tall.

Jesse had wondered. What could he do in the future? A lordling with no land or coin to call his own. A maester? He happen to like books. Join the mummers with his harp? In the Many Kingdoms, mummers were frowned upon.

His Lady suggested him to be her sworn knight. With the same indifference when he agreed to learn how to use a sword, he acquiesced.

Handsome. Young. Her sworn knight pledged till his death. Whenever he plays the harp upon her request, he could now understand the look on her eyes that he didn't noticed as a boy.

Like a painting, he had let the Lady handle the brush in his life. Now he was stuck in its frame.

Young men had come and go in her chambers. A heavy shade darkens his guts that one day, he would have to answer her call.

He finally reached the door of his chambers. Leroy, a servant, was waiting for him.

"Ser," he acknowledged, opening his door.

Jesse nodded. Leroy. His friend. Lady Acme may insist of being surrounded by beautiful things, but Jesse wanted Leroy to stay. Servants dubbed him "Leroy Hyena," after seeing an exotic fur rug that Lady Acme bought. That would be the truth with his face scarred with pox, brittle hair and uneven teeth. But as far as Jesse was concerned, Leroy's honest care made him more worthy than any possession in House Acme.

The servant watched him enter silently. A sigh escaped Jesse as he put his harp on the table. Leroy sometimes wished his ser should be left alone. But it was plain to see that Jesse was Lady Acme's household favorite.

Leroy closed the door. "Are you alright, ser?"

Jesse glanced at him wryly. He could never get Leroy to call him by his name. Then again, Jesse refused to call Lady Acme by her first name.

"I'm fine."

The servant bit his lip. Lady Acme's inclinations weren't very much a secret.

"Where is she?"

Leroy straightened up. Ser Jesse could always go down to the Great Hall to be entertained by dancers and musicians. But no. "I- I think she's in the Northern Wall Walk. Do you want me to send her to-"

"No need. I'll go to her myself."

 **XOXOXO**

 _6 months ago…_

Lady Acme always bring strangeness from her travels. Colorful birds. Spiked plants that can grow in sand. A foreign lad or lady.

But never a Fool.

Now Fools are common in The Many Kingdoms. But the one standing before the Great Hall was an anthropomorph. But that didn't make it strange. There are many animals that walk and talk. But the strange thing about this anthropomorphic Fool was, the anthropomorphic Fool was a girl.

"I got her under contract just as I was getting home," Lady Acme said proudly of her find. She briskly clapped her hands. "Girl, introduce yourself."

And so before the lords and ladies, guardsmen and servants present for that evening meal, the rabbit in a strange chequered dress spoke.

"Am I really?" she answered with a voice fit for a beard. Bells jingled in her eccentric hat that flopped and pointed in various directions.

There was a murmur of laughter. Then she grinned with a curtsy.

"Rhoda, milady."

 **XOXOXO**

 _Present…_

Rhoda sat on the embrassure of the wall walk. Cold air permeated through the rough stone but her fur kept her warm. Lazily, she plucked her mandolin. The tunes she would play in the halls were upbeat and quick-paced. But here in the dark solitude, she loosened her musical musings. In here, she wasn't Rhoda the Fool. She was just Rhoda.

 **XOXOXO**

Jesse climbed the stone steps leading to the Castle Wall. As his feet led by memory, his mind wandered.

Lady Acme always had a need for entertainment. Dancers and musicians were always present in the Great Hall. But Rhoda the Fool had been a hit. She was a storm of acrobats and jests that had the elite splitting their sides in laughter.

By the end of her first night, the highborn gave a rousing applause. She had bowed, looking around the Hall.

Then their eyes met.

It hadn't been a big deal back then to him. Eyes meet accidentally sometimes. But Rhoda looked at him, as though puzzled, before looking away.

Every night, the Fool played her mandolin along with the household's musicians. On some days, she would leave for the nearby town (probably to play in the pub). But on the eves of Frigg's day and Saturn's day, Lady Acme would summon the Fool for her comedy. And comedy she would deliver.

She would sing and dance with her mandolin, fleeting between guests.

She would tease the tempestuous dwarf Lord Herman about his gruff complaints when secretly he enjoyed being relied on. She would call him by his nickname "Baby Herman" that everyone doesn't dare say on his face. But she says it with a queer familiarity that bugged the aloof lord.

She would tease people for thinking they're of someone's better when in the end of the day, everyone farts.

She would tease about herself.

Yet as people cheered and she'd looked at those smiling faces. Her eyes would catch his before moving away. He was used to the stares of anyone who is attracted to a man. But hers had been strangely different.

 **XOXOXO**

Rhoda hummed, looking at the stars. Being in House Acme wasn't so bad. She had been worried about getting the means to travel south. Most furries are peasants and most humans are nobles. Whatever coin she has, it wouldn't be enough for her to travel quickly as she would like.

But one way or another, it ended up by her being chased by enraged sellswords inside an inn. Tables, chairs and ale went flying all over the place, she tripped, accidentally barell-rolled the sellswords and was the only one left standing in the pandemonium.

Just as she was getting her bearings, a noblewoman laughed and asked who she was. Rhoda introduced her name and occupation and Lady Acme offered to employ her. Rhoda agreed. Warnerfell isn't far south, but it was far enough.

She was a mummer all her life. People, even farm peasants, looked down at mummers for wasting time jollying. But Rhoda found joy with affecting people with laughter.

But not him.

There was a man in Lady Acme's household. When all would be tearing from laughter, he would watch silent, the light never reaching his eyes.

Jesse was his name, the servants had said. Knighted young and sworn to Lady Acme. Warnerfell's castellan. The regent head whenever Lady Acme is away. Since Lady Acme has no relatives, they said he might even be the heir.

 _The Prince_ , the servant girls would sigh.

 _The Prince,_ the guardsmen would sneer.

 _But he never smiles_ , she had wanted to point out.

 **XOXOXO**

Jesse stepped out into the open air. His lungs filled in with the cold, crisp atmosphere. Goosebumps prickled underneath his tunic. But he ignored them.

He looked around in the open gorge tower. In a far distance away, in the moon's silhouette, he could see a small figure with thumper feet.

Green eyes blinked. He remembered the first time he saw her there.

He had felt like he was in a cage. Restlessness clawed in his chest. Someone remarked about his stoic face. They were ignored.

He left the raucous laughter in the halls ringing with cups of wine. Instead of his chamber, his feet led him somewhere else as his thoughts rambled and droned.

But then cold air hit his face. He looked up to see the stars.

When he was a boy, he used to wish he could fly. Just fly away from here.

But he should be grateful, shouldn't he be? He had made it well. He has food, shelter and clothes on his back. He knows how to use a sword, ride a horse and read. If Lady Acme hadn't took him in as her ward, who knew where he would be?

Her chamber door flashed inside his mind and his gut tightened.

Soft plucking of strings reverberated in the air. When his eyes adjusted to the darkness. He saw white fur in the moonlight. Acme's fool.

She was playing her mandolin. The melodies relaxing. A far cry to the robust twangs that would accompany her silly limericks.

He let her be as he just leaned against a merlon of the open tower. When she shifted and climbed down her embrassure, he quietly slipped back into the castle.

 **XOXOXO**

Rhoda smiled at the memories. People always underestimate how far a rabbit could hear.

She didn't know when it started. But ever since that night, the strange man, Lady Acme's knight would listen to her late-night plucking and be gone as soon as she would finish.

His eyes don't look sad. But they don't look happy either.

He's a knight, what boys would aspire for. He's the castellan, what knights sworn to a lord would aspire for. Yet why wasn't he happy?

 **XOXOXO**

 _Three months ago…_

The eve of Frigg's Day. There is always entertainment in the Great Hall. But this time, they were quiet as Acme's Fool stand before them.

"I am at war with myself," she announced with such grave eyes, putting a closed fist against her chest.

Rhoda held up a small bottle for all of them to see.

"This potion," she declared, "will momentarily split myself," she looked at them carefully. "Not into two. Yet," she raised a finger in contradiction, "as two."

Without further ado, she uncapped the glass bottle and drank it straight up.

Her shoulders suddenly slackened. The bells on her hat drooped.

But then the musicians suddenly played a bouncy tune.

Rhoda abruptly sprang up, her eyes sparkling. With a large grin, she clasped her hands in her chest, swaying as she sings.

 _"_ _I am the girl's heart_

 _My feelings are my art_

 _I love and I laugh when I take part_

 _Cause the heart's part is life's kick start!"_

Then as quickly as she had sang, her eyes frozen stern. She stiffly crosses her arms as she clipped in stoic tones.

 _"_ _I am the girl's mind_

 _Clockwork is on grind_

 _My facts are defined and refined and are organized._

 _And when you trust me, you will never be blind."_

What surprise was felt was melted into a ring of laughter. Rhoda suddenly grabbed one of the ladies, jumping up and down as she pointed at one of the servants. Sylvester.

 _"_ _Oh look, oh look there_

 _Isn't he a teddy bear?_

 _Have you ever seen a feline so bright and fair?"_

The cat slapped a hand over his face. The audience laughed as his red nose darkened a new shade of scarlet.

But then Rhoda was waving her arms in contention. Her stoic, clipped tones singing out.

 _"_ _No, heart. Don't do this to her._

 _They're of different fur._

 _I know a rabbit boy who can love and care for her"_

Meanwhile, the page boy Oswald the rabbit glanced furtively at one of the servant cats.

Rhoda flipped the bells in her hat away, the same way a girl would disregard with a flip of her hair.

 _"_ _You think you're right, mind._

 _But I don't feel the same for him._

 _What is life if you refuse to even follow your dream?_ "

She switched to the other side, with a cynical shake of her head, her arms crossed.

 _"_ _Dreams, heart? You're being unkind."_

She pointed the air. _"I'll say you're out of your mind._

 _And if she could, she'd kick you from behind,"_ she sang, swishing out her leg.

Rhoda suddenly flew to the other side as though she was punted across. Laughter ensued as she scrambled up. But now, tears of frustration glistened on her frowning blue eyes. The Fool clenched her fists on her sides as she bite out her lyrics.

 _"_ _You think you always know what's right for her!_

 _And reject the things I said that do matter._

 _Yes, I know all this time, you have kept her alive._

 _But there's more to life than just to survive!"_

That made Jesse look up. But "mind" Rhoda switched to the other side. Frown, deeper than before, she shook her head.

 _"_ _You always yearn and yearn and yearn_

 _Then blame me, haven't you ever learn?_

 _To get what she truly wants she must have the courage first to earn."_

The laughter softened. Rhoda whirled to the other side, tears now threatening to spill her frustration.

 _"_ _That's because you shun me away!_

 _Too afraid to stay_

 _And be disappointed that it's all for naught at the end of the day!"_

The Fool now held her hands over her face, shoulders shaking with every sob. There was suddenly a heaviness in the air. Of a heart worn of crying unheard.

Jesse's chest tightened at the sight. But then Rhoda whirled back to mind's role. She looked surprised. Hesitating, she touched her cheek, wet with tears.

Then her hand reached out in the air. Her voice soft, she sang.

 _"_ _Just be honest with me and how you feel._

 _Give me courage, if you will._

 _And I'll learn and plan on how to get it real"_

Jesse didn't know how she did it. Tables surround her left, right and front. But as she faced the main table, she seems to be addressing them all.

 _"_ _Together we can make her happy,"_ her sweet "Heart" role sang.

Her voice turned detached. " _Together we can keep her healthy."_

 _"_ _Together as one, we become the soul,"_ the Fool sang with her normal voice.

She placed fingertips over her temples. " _Together we can see things truly"_

 _"_ _Together we can live life fully,"_ she put her hands over her heart.

Rhoda opened her arms wide. " _Together we grow as a whole."_

Silence settled in the Great Hall as she bowed. Then came the clamoring ring of applause. But there was something in their cheers. Quieter but intangibly bodied. Thoughtful.

"That was different from your usual skits, mi'fool," Lady Acme rising from her seat to throw her a rose.

Rhoda caught it with a flourish and a bow, thanking her. She looked around their happy faces. But Lady Acme's sworn knight was already gone.

But when Jesse finally approached her in her secret evening place, she knew she had finally reached everyone in the Great Hall.

 **XOXOXO**

 _Present…_

She kept playing her mandolin even as she heard footsteps approaching.

"Why do you always sit out here?" Jesse asked. "The Lady would push the Maester to give you the bitterest teas if you ever catch a cold."

Rhoda laughed, shifting in her spot. The bells in her dress tinkled.

"You can almost see everything here," she said softly, as though to not disturb the quiet. _Somewhere out there..._

He looked at the moon-shined scenery. Indeed she was right. Rolling plains of grass and trees stretched out as far as the eye could see. Above them, the starry sky loomed with the moon.

Jesse casted her a quick glance. Whenever she was here, she was always looking from afar. From a loud, cheery mummer of the Great Hall to a quiet musician in a stoney little nook.

"Where are you from?" he asked, wondering why he had only thought to ask that about her now.

"Toon Vale," she replied.

"That's far north," he raised a brow, "Isn't it safer there?"

Word of the mouth is, the anthropomorphs are rebelling against the humans in the main kingdom which is south of House Acme. Peasants most of them, they blame the hierarchy set by humans. The news had created tension in other Houses where they have anthropomorphs for servants and stable boys and guardsmen.

But the tension worsened when the news of a rabbit killing a lord spread like wildfire. The "manslayer" was never captured. The rabbits took the worst. Taxes were raised. They were attacked. Their property ransacked. The rebellion retaliated.

Rhoda, though she may hide her ears, her feet and fur were a dead giveaway.

She must've understood what he was implying for she looked away, rubbing her arms.

"Sometimes you need courage to get what you want," she mumbled. "Although I am a craven still."

But then she shook her head, laughing away her mood. Jesse stared and she could tell he wanted her to elaborate further.

She rubbed the back of her head. "Sorry, Jesse."

Jesse felt himself smile in the inside. Unlike Leroy, Rhoda has no reservations calling people their first names. Rhoda had explained that Fools have no place in the invisible pyramid. That's why they can speak their mind ("If we have one!" she chirped).

"You have nothing to apologize." His eyes got drawn to her mandolin. "May I?"

After a few instructions, he was strumming and plucking some notes she taught him.

"Funny," she commented at their slow, fluid tones. Rhoda took the mandolin from him and played the same notes. It came out perky and bouncy.

Jesse tried to mimick the tempo of her plucking. They came out discordant. When Rhoda tried to play it slow and graceful like Jesse...

"It sounded like a dead man with flat feet walking," she joked. Jesse breathed out a laugh.

He leaned against the merlon beside her. Rhoda leapt up, twirling her Fool's baton. Nights like this, Rhoda would practice her skit while he offered feedback here and there. One time, he showed her his signature sword swing and she mimicked with her baton in her act, much to the delight of the people.

"It's no fair that you got to see me practice, Jesse," she said. "You'd be tired of my act when Frigg's day comes."

"I can never get tired of you."

She laughed, flattered. Then she looked away as though confused. Jesse had an inkling why. If he was a male rabbit, or if she was a human woman, it wouldn't be so strange.

As the night continued, the light laughter of the rabbit could be heard. Along with a deep, rare chuckle accompanying.

 **XOXOXO**

"You should stop meeting her."

Morning rays shafted through the window. Leroy busied himself in the cabinet as Jesse put on a tunic.

"Guardsmen could see you. Servants do talk," Leroy continued, closing the cabinet. "It doesn't help that she performed your signature sword move. A bond between a human and an anthropomorph is more taboo than incest."

Jesse didn't answer. Leroy must've sensed his apathy for he spoke again.

"The gossip of page boy Oswald eloping with the servant Ortensia is wearing thin. People are rarely comfortably of cats and rabbits mixing. But the next gossip would be you and Rhoda."

Jesse simply put on his belt. "I have no cares for gossip, Leroy. "

Leroy shook his head. "I know, ser. You two aren't doing anything bad. But you know how Lady Acme is with you," he quickly glanced at the closed chamber door.

That made Jesse still. But he simply made his way to the breakfast Leroy set on the table. Leroy had always feared the worst.

"If Lady Acme took heart about you and her Fool, she might send her away," Leroy continued.

"She's my friend, Leroy. Just as you are. I'll just hire Rhoda as my own," Jesse replied.

His manservant's voice became firm. "Ser, not while you're under Lady Acme and you know that," Leroy fidgeted, tugging at his collar. He never liked arguments. "You said it yourself, Rhoda isn't safe here near south. Don't do this to her."

 **XOXOXO**

There was something wrong.

Rhoda continue to hum, her eyes closed. Today, she visited a nearby town. Servants did their work. Roosters crowed. Jesse sparred and read. But whenever they would pass by, it seemed he wouldn't even look at her general direction.

Mist ghosted from her lips as she spoke.

"Is there something wrong?"

The figure beside her shifted his weight. He wasn't facing her but he was watching her from the corners of his eyes. He hadn't even said anything to her. His shoulders rose then lowered as though he wasn't even surprised at her observation.

"This would be my last visit," Jesse stated. He placed a hand against the cold stone wall, letting the chill seeped into his fingers..

She finally opened her eyes, the blue orbs widening. "Why?"

He brushed auburn bangs away and it fell softly to frame his face.

"I am… I am the Lady's favorite."

Her jaw hung open as she waited for him to say more. But then realization dawned at the implications. "Oh. _Oh._ But- but Jesse, I'm a Fool but that's just ridiculous!"

"I don't want gossip to reach the Lady's ears."

"You and the Lady-"

His mouth pushed to the sides, tasting bitterness inside. "A noble. A knight. A castellan. But as 'The Prince,' one also has another title…"

"Jesse..." she wanted to reach out to him. But the way he draws into himself tells her that he doesn't want anything to touch him. She took her hat off and worried it with her hands. "You're not a-"

"Remember your song? About the mind and the heart?"

She nodded, confused as to why would he bring that up now. He looked up in the stars and opened his mouth, singing.

 _"_ _Just be honest with me and how you feel._

 _Give me courage, if you will._

 _And I'll learn and plan on how to get it real"_

It was a beautiful thought. But things were never that simple. He owed the Lady so much. If she would ask of him as she had asked other young men, and she would, then so be it.

The evening wind blew. He looked around them. When it felt like a cage, Rhoda's cheer flew with wings unseen in the Great Hall.

A small hand touched his shoulder. He looked up to see eyes the color of clear skies in summer.

His heart dipped. He paused. They had never touched. They would sit close but would never even brush past each other.

"I want _everyone_ to be happy," she said softly. The tips of her rabbit ears whispered against his hair, tingling his scalp.

But then it was over as it had happened. She pulled back and gave him a tiny smile. "At least we still see each other in the Great Hall."

I want _everyone_ to be happy. He didn't know what she wanted him to particularly do. Say no? Leave? Do what he pleases? It's too complicated than that.

Jesse bid her goodnight and left.

 **XOXOXO**

They did a good job ignoring each other.

Jesse was no stranger to closing off fear, anxiety and loss. To be able to do one's duties, it's necessary to place his heart in a dark cell and lock it with an iron door.

But when Jesse had closed the door to their evening encounters, Rhoda had jammed it with the thought that he could be happy. He _can_ be happy.

There was a loud thud. Leroy had put the goblet on the table a little too loudly. A chastising frown was in the servant's brows. Jesse had been staring. The knight rarely spends his free time in the Great Hall. But today, he was breaking his fast and reading parchments even with the ruckus in the far end by musicians and dancers… and Rhoda.

"For her sake, ser," he whispered before moving away to carry a platter to other seats.

Why does Rhoda has to plant a seed on him? Why do Fools have to point out fallacies?

There was suddenly a cry. One of the guardsmen suddenly rushed in, announcing the arrival of visitors. Jesse rose from his seat. They weren't expecting anyone.

There were a clatter of hooves and shouts of men. The great door opened wider, revealing a red banner with a vulture in it.

He grabbed a manservant as he was scurrying past. "Who allowed them in?"

"T-The Lady, ser!"

Lady Acme still wasn't present. He strode to meet the newcomers as weasels in armor and chainmail swaggered into the Hall.

"I am Ser Krupnik, sworn knight and castellan of House Acme," he announced before the weasels. "We have not received a raven of your arrival."

"Ser Smarty of House Doom," the leader of them proclaimed, baring his teeth. "We are here on the lead that House Acme is unknowingly hiding a criminal."

The entire hall went silent.

Jesse looked down from his tall height, at the weasels that are leering at the crowd. "And who might be this criminal, may I ask?"

"Rabbit Rhoda of Toon Vale. Sister of the manslayer, Rabbit Roger." He eyed the residents surrounding them. "Show yourself!"

The weasel's voice echoed. A hush fell. No one moved.

Then steps. Soft. Foreboding. The crowd split on one side. Acme's Fool appeared. Shaking but present.

Ser Smarty pointed at her. "Commander Doom ordered for your interrogation. You are to be taken to Disneyros."

Rhoda was clutching her hands close to her. Her bells almost tingle as she shook. "B-But I have already been interrogated before! I-I was proven innocent!"

"Silly girl, witnesses in this town have reported you've been asking for the whereabouts of your brother." He pointed at her, "Men, sieze her!"

Two other weasels came for her. In a flash, Jesse was suddenly in front of them.

"And why are Doom's men coming to claim her for the King's justice? Shouldn't it be King's men?"

Ser Smarty and the rest of the weasels closed in. "Step aside, Ser Krupnik. Or be tried for aiding and abetting."

Rhoda looked fretfully at Jesse. Then back at Doom's men. She took out her confetti egg and smashed it on the floor.

Chaos rose as their location exploded with sawdust and slivers and slivers of colored paper. Jesse whirled around, only for Rhoda to be gone, as Ser Smarty barked orders at the weasels.

There! Up in the high window, Rhoda was perched. Amidst the commotion, she smiled at him, motioning her fingers upwards across her lips.

 _Be happy,_ she mouthed. Then she was gone.

 **XOXOXO**

They had captured her somewhere in King's road.

The people of Disneyros had been abuzzed with news and tidbits. The sister of the rabbit manslayer imprisoned! On what grounds?

Some say she helped her brother drop an anvil over a lord's head.

Some say for being a witch, seducing a knight -no! A dwarfen lord!

Some say they were siblings that eat human flesh.

The news of capture had turned to news of her execution.

 _It's bait_ , they whispered.

 _The manslayer's one of the rebellion_ , they exchanged in hushed voices.

Inside the king's castle, the dungeons were heavily guarded. Human knights and weasels patrol day and knight.

 _Was there a trial?_ Awed voices asked.

 _Justice? What justice?_ They taunt in secret.

There was something charged in the air as days passed. Always was with a coming execution.

 _Will they come? The rebellion?_ People breathed beneath their sleeves.

 _Impossible_.

The church bell tolled twice-two. Crowds of anthropomorphs left their homes, left their shops and gathered around the gallows. The entire square was soon filled, daily life momentarily forgotten to witness a traitor punished. King's men tested the trapdoor where the prisoner would fall. Above it, someone was tying a noose.

The beginnings of cries rose when the castle gates open. Commander and his men rode out. Followed by a horse, pulling a wagon. The cries surged with excitement. Was it despair? Screams of accusation? No one could tell.

The door of the dark wagon was opened. A bedraggled figure was wrenched out. Her hat was gone. Her chequered dress was in tatters. Her white fur no longer white. She stumbled. Two weasels caught her, half-dragged and prodded up the gallows. She struggled.

The masses screamed.

Chains shackled her wrists in front of her. Wounds, raw and bright red, laced her arms as though they had blocked lashes of bone and leather.

The two weasels stood on each side of her, the trapdoor beneath her feet.

The crowds became louder as Commander Doom climbed the gallows too. He held out a hand for silence.

"Rabbit Rhoda of Toon Vale. You have been proven guilty of aiding Rabbit Roger, the manslayer, in his hiding." His voice boomed strong and unpromising. "As punishment, you shall be hanged. May the gods have mercy on your soul."

Waves of faces and shouting rippled. They jostled in waves, a sea of anthropomorphs. Jeering, screaming.

Rhoda's drooped shoulders heaved. It hurt to stand. Hurt more to stand up straighter. But brother might be watching.

"Please, my good ser," her voice crackled. Her mouth felt dry. She cleared her throat, pain shooting in her pipe. Her voice cleared but rang timid. "Just one final act?"

Coldly, the commander regarded her. Men laughed at her request.

"Let the Fool be a Fool to the end," he finally ordered.

Rhoda stepped forward. Her drooped rabbit ears rose with effort. She looked at the cacophonous crowd. This was just another performance. She did a curtsy, much to the crowd's curiosity.

Taking a deep breath she released a note lilting and clear.

" _Two pigeons live in a meadow,_

 _hiding in a hollow of a tree_ "

The crowd slowly began to quiet at the strange girl's last request.

 _"_ _The hawk circled, a dangerous shadow,_

 _One was caught, the other got free."_

The Commander frowned, watchful and ominous.

 _"_ _Fly, fly and don't look back_

 _Be safe and live for me!_ "

"She's warning him! Hang her!" he screamed.

The weasels grabbed her. She braced herself. Still singing. Strangely, smiling.

 _"_ _You don't need to, you don't have to_

 _Risk your life for me!"_

She was afraid. Oh, she was so afraid. Warm raindrops ran down her face. She never noticed there was no rain.

 _"_ _Fly, fly and don't look back_

 _Be safe and live for me!_ "

She grunted when she felt knuckles connect to her skull. They dragged her back to the the trapdoor. She gasped and cried out.

 _"_ _You don't need to, you don't have to_

 _Risk your life for me!"_

They forced the noose around her neck. The man grabbed the lever that would make the trapdoor fall.

Only to be shot by an arrow.

"What the-"

Pandemonium exploded. People panicked, running, afraid where the arrow will be shot next. The Commander yelled orders.

Another arrow whooshed, slicing the rope connected to her noose. People began to climb on top of the gallows to avoid the stampede. Before the weasels could grab her, another arrow hit the lever of the trapdoor.

"Aaaaaugh!"

She fell. But instead of dirt, she fell through a hole.

Rhoda grunted when she finally hit soft dirt. Dark. She looked up, the only source of light. Only to recognize she was in a rabbit hole.

"What's up, milady?"

She looked beside her to find a gray and white rabbit.

"Bugs!" she gasped.

He tugged at her. "No time, cousin! We got to get out of here!"

She followed him suit, crawling speedily through the claustrophobic and moist dark.

When they finally crawled out, she realized they were still inside the town. Bugs winced when he got a good look at her.

"Monsters," he muttered, looking at the fresh wounds on her arms and shackled wrists. He pulled a mask over his face before grabbing the reins of a horse waiting.

Anyone would notice a masked man on a horse. Especially if they're carrying the second-most wanted rabbit in Disneyros.

They were able to speed past through the town gates and around a bend. Unfortunately, Doom's riders were on their tail.

"The others would be waiting for us," Bugs said, halting his steed.

"Bugs, what-"

"We're almost in the forest, we won't be needing him," he said, slapping the horse's rump. The horse neighed before running away. He pulled her into the direction of the forest.

"We couldn't infiltrate the dungeons," Bugs said. "But I didn't expect the commotion up there. Robin was supposed to be finest archer yet he almost botch it up."

Bewilderness wearing thin, she ran with him in the forest, memory clearing. "The arrows came from two different directions."

"Wha-"

A horse suddenly burst out of the greenery. The rider, suddenly dipped low, hooked his arm around Rhoda's waist and carried her off.

"Rhoda!"

"Bugs!" she screamed. She struggled against his grip. "Unhand me, you evil-"

"It's me."

Rhoda looked up, her mouth hanging open. She knew that deep, clear voice anywhere. The rider's hood fell backward.

"Jesse! What the- what're you doing?"

"Rescuing you," he said, his face relieved at the sight of her.

"What are you doing here?!"

He frowned. "Still rescuing you?"

"If we got caught, House Acme would be branded a traitor-"

"I left." In the drum of hooves and the pounding of his heart, as he looked at her bewildered face, safe and far from harm, for the first time in a long time, his heart was singing. The barren land in his mind sprouted trees and-

"WHAT?!"

She stared at him, almost convinced he had gone mad. Rhoda finally got a good look at him. His face was unshaved. His tunic was dirty. He looked like a man who just slept under the stars for days. Like a hedge knight.

"Did you just deserted Warnerfell to rescue me?" she demanded.

Jesse frowned. He was expecting her tone to be more… maybe grateful? "Yes," he replied.

"You can't do that!"

"I'm doing it right now."

She couldn't wrap it around her head. There was a spark in his eyes. A smile on his lips. As though none of that mattered anymore.

There were other clopping of hooves. She craned her neck to see Jesse's manservant now riding along beside them, carrying a bow and a quiver of arrows.

"Jesse, you're a sworn knight! Breaking your oath is bad! And you have a life there! I'm a wanted rabbit! You can get killed for this!"

"You told me to be happy," he pointed out.

"I did! Not ruin your life!" she cried.

Reins wrapped in his fingers, he clasped her shackled hands. Her breath escaped her as an intensity in his eyes held her.

"I am happy," he said quietly amidst the drumming of hooves.

She stared, suddenly aware how close they were.

"Ser! Riders ahead!" Leroy yelled.

The halted before a quarter of riders. Behind and both sides, anthropomorphs surround them. Jesse's free arm went protectively around Rhoda.

One of the riders hopped down, pulling off his mask. "Sister!"

She gaped before scrabbling down the horse. "Roger!"

They ran, crashing into each other in a hug.

"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry," he mumbled against her head. "You shouldn't have-"

"I- I'm okay, Roger."

"Your arms!" the male rabbit exclaimed. Bright red gaps could be seen framed by skin and fur. Criss-crossed and slashes. Wounds that would soon be scarred. Fur might never grow back in them. His thumb hovered over a gaping slice on her cheek.

She unconsciously tried to hide her arms before she stopped herself. "They just wanted to rile you so that you'd appear."

"That doesn't make it okay!" he yelled, holding a hand over his mouth, tears already springing in his eyes.

"This is why I told you to leave it to us," Bugs said, ambling close to them. "Speaking of which," he pointed at Jesse and Leroy. "Who are ye?"

"They're with me," Rhoda said quickly. A coyote climbed down his horse to check on her wounds. A chain of different metals hanged around his neck. He took out a lockpick in his sleeve and began to work on the shackles on her wrist.

Jesse stepped down from his horse. "Ser Jesse of House Krupnik."

"I have heard of you," the coyote spoke. The shackles opened with a click and she rubbed her wrists. Roger covered her with his cloak. "The sworn knight of House Acme who deserted his vows."

"Human sympathizers?" one of the anthropomorphs barked out a laugh.

"We need to hurry back. I have to treat her wounds," the coyote said outloud. Aside from other injuries, the girl rabbit have signs of dehydration. The lashes have reached her shoulders and trunk. One side of her head is swelling from a possible concussion.

"Humans can't be trusted," a black duck said flatly. "Roger's sister can come with us but not the two."

Some of the anthropomorphs closed in. "It's too late for that. They've seen our faces."

"We have no need for prisoners," the black duck remarked.

Rhoda looked around, sensing the growing tension. "We can trust them!" she blurted out.

"Rhoda," Bugs said, "human friends are one thing-"

"He's not my friend!" she exclaimed. She needs to think and fast. "He's-" whatever courage she had, she gathered up as she left Roger's side and went to Jesse. She wrapped her furred hand with his. "He's my-"

The embarrassed blush that shone past her dirtied fur was convincing enough though.

Stunned silence fell over them. Roger was the first to break it.

"HE'S WHA-" the coyote quickly clapped a hand over his mouth.

Leroy kept a straight face. As far as Jesse was concerned, masking his emotions was nothing. But Rhoda's actions… was certainly unexpected. Behind them, he could hear mutters of "skin-lover."

"We can trust them," Rhoda said, looking at her brother that looked like he wanted to explode. To the coyote Maester that was watching them carefully. To Bugs and the black duck that had glanced at each other.

"Maester Wiley? Your thoughts?" Bugs finally asked.

"This Ser Krupnik has broken his vows with one of the most powerful Houses of the Many Kingdoms," he slowly said. "He is a traitor."

Rhoda was about to speak but the Maester was not finished.

"He is a highborn. A knight. A future heir of another House's riches. He would be a loon to give it all up," he raised a brow. "Or in love."

Bugs shrugged with flippant ease. "Welp, that settles it. Let's go." They all left the road, heading straight to the forest. Bugs shook his head. Wait, till The Mouse heard of this.

But his eyes lingered at the way Roger stared at his sister who refused to look back at him.

"If Maester Wiley is wrong, you know what we would do to ye," Bugs directed to the ser and his squire.

Roger was about to help her into his horse. But Rhoda turned away. She was helped by Jesse into his steed, painfully aware of the charade she had given them both. Pain and fatigue crept up to her body as adrenaline left her. Her arms screamed and weeped clear water. Her head seared dull and aching. She leaned against Jesse, sighing as darkness claimed her.

For better and for worse, all of them had thrown the dice.

* * *

 **End of Chapter**

 **Thank you for taking a minute or two to give your feedback :)**

 **Author's Notes:** And that's it for Medieval Fantasy AU. Points to anyone who gets the references ;)

* A ward is someone who is taken in by another House to learn the cultures of others and create stronger ties between Houses.


	6. Wild West AU

**Title: The Bounty and The Hunter**

 **Summary: Same situation of GB Medieval Fantasy AU but now in the Wild West AU. When his rabbit sister was rescued along with a human husband, can anyone blame Roger for his reactions?**

 **Wild West AU**

* * *

 _What is this feeling, so sudden and new?_

 _I felt the moment I laid eyes on you._

 _My pulse is rushing._

 _My head is reeling_

 _My face is flushing._

 _What is this feeling? Fervid as a flame, does it have a name?_

 _Yes..._

 _Loathing! Unadulterated loathing!_

 **-Elphaba and Galinda, Wicked (musical), What is this Feeling? (song)**

* * *

The sun was setting over the Wild West. Red, marbled mountains; treeless, peerless, loomed over the small posse gathered in the empty road.

"He's not my friend!" Rhoda cried, "He's -" Roger was only a little surprised when his sister, safe and with him, left his side. His hand reached out a little as she turned her back.

His sister, the little rabbit girl he watched growing up along, went beside the strange man and wrapped her furred hand into his large on. His mouth opened.

"He's my-" she paused. But the bright blush that shone through her dirtied fur completed her sentence.

Stunned silence fell over them. Roger was the first to break it.

"HE'S WHA-" the coyote quickly clapped a hand over his mouth.

"We can trust him," Rhoda said.

The rest of the conversation was a buzz in Roger's ears. Thoughts ricocheted inside his skull.

 _When?! How?! Why?!_

This couldn't be happening. He stared before the man that Rhoda was holding hands with. He was dirtied from the sun and dirt of the desert. But it only made him aesthetically rugged. Beside him, wounded and dirty, Rhoda looked like she went through a machine.

Bugs shrugged with flippant ease. "Welp, that settles it. Let's go."

Roger, snapped out of his thoughts, went to take his sister. But Rhoda turned away, not even meeting his eyes.

As she walked towards the horse of the strange man, Roger felt a distance between them widened.

 **XOXOXO**

They arrived at the mountainous hideout. The horses were led to a different direction and Jesse carried the unconscious Rhoda in his arms.

The mouth of a cave loomed before them. Darkness immediately swallowed whatever light of day was still available. Jesse could only hear the scrapes and shuffles as they proceeded through the cool, earthy smell of the tunnel.

He felt a furred hand yanked his shirt. "This way," a pair of yellow eyes said.

Jesse blinked as they turned around the corner. Glows of hanging lamps dotted the path, almost too far a distance in between.

"Here," the pair of yellow eyes said. Jesse's vision adjusted. The coyote that had checked on Rhoda before was leading him to one of the hollowed "rooms".

A female cat gasped at the sight of Jesse.

"Calm down, Penelope. He's with us," Wiley said, holding up a hand.

Penelope Pussycat nodded, her eyes still suspicious. Nonetheless, she went to get supplies.

Jesse laid Rhoda on one of the beds. Her brother was on her side in an instant.

"Anything I can do to help, Doc?" the male rabbit asked.

"Let me and my nurse take care of this," the coyote replied.

The female cat appeared, carrying a wash basin. Jesse noted the way she avoided the space around him. The rebels certainly were distrustful of humans.

"Aren't you an undertaker?" Jesse asked, looking at the coyote's black coat.

The coyote smirked, making him looked more ominous. He ushered Jesse and Rhoda's brother out of the "clinic".

"Almost the same thing," the coyote chuckled with dark humor, sliding a curtain over the entrance.

Jesse stared, wondering if she would be alright.

Then he felt it.

He looked up. Then down, trying to find the source. Only to see Rhoda's brother staring at him. His eyes, so similar to Rhoda, was set into a tiny frown as he gazed at Jesse's filthy but fine clothes, up his tall frame and to his face that made him won hearts without trying.

Jesse knew that look all too well. Unlike Nurse Penelope's gaze of dislike for humans, this was far different.

"Roger... ah... Mr. Human?"

They both looked up. One of the anthropomorphs that had been with them, hesitated, then spoke up. "The Rabbit and the Mouse would like to see you."

The black and white cat turned, beckoning them to follow him. After so many twists and turns in the underground tunnels, Sylvester gestured the entrance of their destination.

Jesse stepped in the same time as Roger hopped through. They froze, both stuck in the entrance.

Roger gave him a heated frown which Jesse gladly answered with a cold glare of his own. Then they both shouldered past each other, ignoring the amused grins of the rebel leaders.

 **XOXOXO**

"Here comes the train!" Roger chirped, the spoon zigzagging in the air.

"Roger, no!" Rhoda laughed, covering her face with her hands. He tried to keep his smile at place when her bandaged arms appeared at the act. She shouldn't have followed him.

His sister had been unconscious for four days. FOUR days. Four days of Roger worrying to no end. He couldn't even visit her as much as he would like. With more anthropomorphs needing shelter, rabbits such as him, needed to dig more tunnels.

Meanwhile her "husband" had practically camped in the clinic. Bugs said it was for the best. The other furries need to get used to the idea that not all humans are enemies.

"C'mon!" he teased, his hand dancing tauntingly with a spoon.

Footsteps made his long ears twitch. Rhoda perked at the sight of someone behind him.

"Jessse! You're back."

Whatever cheer was glowing in his chest dimmed. Roger didn't bother looking behind him. He remembered the man's cold gaze, pokerface but penetrating. A complete contrast to his sister's open expression, as readable as a clear, sunny sky.

If Roger had a choice...

"I have to go," Roger said, putting the spoon down.

He left before his sister could say anything. He paused as soon as he was out of sight. His hand, resting on the tunnel wall, Roger sighed, his ears drooping.

"Do I have to spoonfeed you too?" The strange man's baritone said from the clinic.

"Aah! Aah!" Roger could hear his sister reply, could almost imagine her bouncing while pointing at her mouth like a hungry little bird.

Roger walked away, squishing the desire to ran back to the clinic and take her away from that man.

 **XOXOXO**

 _I know my sister like I know my own mind_

 _You will never find_

 _anyone as trusting or as kind._

 **-Angelica Schuyler Hamilton (musical), Satisfied (song)**

 **XOXOXO**

"I'm alright, brother."

It had been a week since Rhoda's rescue. She had been asked to stay further in the clinic for a few more days before being dismissed.

Just to prove to her brother that she really was okay, she walked ahead in the tunnel. She looked around.

The rebels hide in the Red Rock Mountains, thanks to the combined efforts of their leaders: a mouse and a rabbit.

Having the abilities to dig burrows underground, Mickey and Bugs started the secret labyrinth which became the hideaway of anthropomorphs against discrimination from humans.

Roger, one of the rabbits in charge of creating new tunnels, was showing them to their assigned bunk.

Behind them, Jesse walked faster to catch up to Rhoda's side.

Roger's large floppy foot turned outward and Jesse almost tripped over it.

Jesse recovered, quick and fluid. But Roger looked away, suddenly ashamed. He shouldn't have done that.

Then Jesse strode past him, his knuckles "accidentally" smacking the back of Roger's head.

"Ow!"

"Is everything alright in there?" Rhoda asked, glancing back at them.

 **XOXOXO**

Ever since she recovered, the air between her brother and her "husband" was stiff, polite but strangely charged. Rhoda knew Roger and Jesse aren't people of terrible tempers. Roger is slow to anger and quick to forget. Nothing can shake Jesse easily.

However, past experiences told her they both could have the viciousness of a petty four year old.

She hugged her knees on the place of their "bed". In reality, Jesse sleeps on the ground, no matter how she asked him that they should take turns.

They were in one of the assigned tunnel rooms with only a curtain for a door. It took a while before they figure out how to have privacy. Right now, the other rooms beside them were empty. Rhoda took the chance.

"I'm sorry I have to tell them that we're 'us'," she began, her voice low. "But given the situation, they have reasons not to trust humans."

Jesse shrugged. "Don't be. Thank you for saving me." It had become clear back then that they were not going to take prisoner but not willing to let him leave either.

He watched her play with the blanket, her finger running over the fabric.

"My brother can read me well. Sometimes, too well. I know he wants answers about our –us," she said, now fretting a loose thread of the blanket.

 _"We're here," Roger said, stopping with one of the hollowed rooms._

 _He pulled back the curtain. "I wanted to give you the one with bunk beds. But Bugs said since you're husband and wife..." his eye twitched. "This would save space."_

 _Jesse entered and Rhoda was about to follow when Roger grabbed her hand._

 _"Are you sure about this, Rhoda?" Roger asked, his voice only a rabbit could hear._

 _Rhoda stood there, her mouth agape. His eyes were searching, probing through her speechless stare._

 _"We really need to talk abou-"_

 _She snatched back her hand and turned away._

 _"I'm sorry, brother. I really need to rest," she mumbled, lifting apart the curtain. She stepped inside, letting it fall shut from him._

Rhoda bit her lip. Guilt never felt good.

She shook her head. "It's not just that." She twiddled her fingers. "We need to come up with something that Roger would approve. He's gonna ask 'How long do we know each other?' 'When did this started?' 'Did he-" she suddenly turned red as she curled into herself, "-uh..." and she wasn't able to continue any longer.

Jesse gave the briefest chuckle, sitting down beside her. He ruffled her ginger hair. "You and your brother are such old maids. Why do you want his approval of our 'union' so badly?"

"Because he's my brother! And you both need to get along," Rhoda exclaimed, looking up to him.

"No."

"But, Jesse-"

"I have enough of people who judge too fast and too easily," Jesse said, icicles dripping in his words. "Your brother is one of them."

"But –but Roger is a great guy," she said helplessly. She clutched the roughspun blanket to herself. "P-p-please?" she asked, those blue eyes unawarely beseeching. "For me?"

Silence spun its length as he stared. Rhoda had gravely underestimated her effect.

"Alright," he finally said.

She gratefully leaned against his side. They watched the flickering lamp for a while. His heart drummed. Her fingers were now making circles on the bed.

"Jesse, what do husbands and wives do?"

There was suddenly a thud in the inside of his chest.

"What do you mean?" he slowly asked. He wanted to make it clear back then. When they were on the run, he had held his hands and told her that for the first time, he was happy. She made him happy. But her confused reaction told him his words didn't reached her as he wanted.

Her pressed knees fidgeted, she looked distracted, almost coy. "I –I mean, I was in the clinic the whole time so they didn't noticed…"

He watched her look up, the flame of the lamp reflected in her blue eyes.

"But how do spouses act around each other in public? I just never noticed before."

She wondered why his shoulders loosened from tension.

 **XOXOXO**

"How did my sister ended up with that?!"

Wile rolled his eyes, reins slacked in his hands. The horse plodded across the desert. In his wagon, coffins barely jostled. Aside from taking care of bodies, the undertaker-slash-rebel's-doctor was tasked of secret transfer of people.

Roger climbed out of one of the coffins. They have just passed by some wagons and the rabbit had quickly hid in one of them.

"I never even saw her go honey-eyed for some young gun!" Roger gesticulated in the air, "Just… how?!"

Oswald the Rabbit scuffed his knuckles against his own shirt. "People fall in love, idiot."

"I know!" Roger whirled to face him. "But don't you think a rabbit mixing with-"

"Finish that sentence," Oswald calmly said, "I dare you."

That made Roger shut up. Even though Roger was a foot taller than him. Oswald's one helluva tornado of fisticuffs. "There's nothing wrong with you and Ortensia," he spoke again, remembering Oswald's feisty cat girlfriend. "It's just that, this is Rhoda we're talking about."

"I find this very unusual of you, Roger," Wiley spoke. "I've never seen you this affected by humans. Even when you were framed for murder."

"It's just that she might be letting things get into her head!" Roger cried, yanking his ears and crashing to his knees. "She could be so emotional!"

"Yeah, unlike you," Oswald answered dryly.

"Definitely! And she could be so naive!"

"Like the time you still believed in toothfairies three days ago?"

"Yeah, and what if he was really mocking her?" his arms bobbed as he pulled and stretched his ears, restlessly walking in the wagon's small space. "Sarcasm just goes over her head!"

"Uh-huh, nothing really escapes you," Oswald chimed.

Wiley sighed, the way Roger was acting, the coyote could peel the emotions right off the inside of his covered wagon.

He gently pulled the reins to a stop, "We're here." Wile jerked his head at Roger. "Take a walk."

"What?"

"You heard me. You need to clear your head. But stay close to the mountains," he directed. Then he narrowed his eyes, his voice becoming firm. "Don't let anyone see you."

"Ha!" Oswald exclaimed, pointing at Roger.

 **XOXOXO**

Roger muttered to himself, kicking a pebble. The sun beat mercilessly overhead. Dry grass and tumbleweeds rustled.

 _"Jeepers!" Six-year-old Roger observed, "It's a good thing we can survive on raw food."_

 _His little sister nodded, chewing on a carrot._

 _They continued eating, unmindful of the charred, blackened kitchen where they tried to boil water a while ago._

Roger sighed. He and Rhoda had been taking care each other since then. His feet wandered the trail-less path.

 _"Run! Rhoda! Run!"_

 _How they ended up in a bull's pen was a long story._

 _Fourteen-year-old Roger pelted stones in the bull's direction. "Get me! Get me!" he yelled._

 _Hooves screeched, ceasing pursuit of his little sister. Sharp horns pointed at his direction. The bull pawed the ground._

 _Roger's ears drooped with regret._

 _"Roger!" Rhoda screamed as Roger scampered, yelling bloody murder._

 _She climbed off the fence and back inside._

 _"Here! Here! Bully!"_

 _Roger fell off outside the fence. "Rhoda, no!"_

 _But Rhoda was able to slip back outside before the bull could get to her._

 _Roger fell back on the dirt, relieved. His chest deflated, his breath coming out in one whoosh._

 _"Y'all exceedingly stupidly brave."_

 _He looked up from the ground. A huge umbrella loomed overhead. A stern nanny looked down, beside her was a pram. A chubby hand reached over it and a baby's face popped out, a cigar clenched between his teeth._

 _Roger cocked his head, dirt swishing beneath him. "Baby… Herman?"_

 _"Know any other alcoholics in a two-year-old body?"_

That was how they ended up as clown rodeos. Wearing baggy pants and colorful shirts, their job was to distract the bulls if the cowboys fell off their backs… all while entertaining the audience. It was fun. The glee of the people, seeing Rhoda laughed...

 _"We -we have to show them there's nothing to be afraid of," Rhoda said, her knees shaking after a close encounter of her gut to the horn. "Especially the kids."_

 _Roger put his arms around her, rubbing her back. Inside, his own heart was beating fearfully inside his ribcage. Yet he willed his voice not to show it. "You shouldn't have come with me."_

 _She gave him a grin that filled up the whole room, and his life. "I'll be fine, brother."_

Rhoda was his family. The other rabbits? They don't know where. Just when things are beginning to turn around, Roger had been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

 _"Hey you! Get back here!" one the weasels yelled._

 _Gunshots rang in the night. But Roger's ears were too numb. His heart pounded inside his throat amplified with his heavy breathing. His legs pumped as his thoughts run wild._

 _They killed someone. They killed someone. They killed someone. They killed someone._

 _He stopped in horror when he realized he was running home. His heart broke at a quick decision. Turning around, passing the gates of Ol' ToonTown, he fled._

He had lost the boys of Deputy Doom then. But he had been in the mercy of the wilderness after. Luckily, the other rebels found him. Deputy Doom called them "bandits". But really they were anthropomorphs who were driven out of other towns by humans.

Just when he had made peace that Rhoda was better off without him, news of his sister's arrest reached the rebels. Arrested for trying to find him.

When news of her coming execution came, they practically have to drag Roger back to the cave.

 _"It's bait," Daffy said bluntly. "They want to get Roger that bad."_

 _Goofy blinked. "Gawrsh! But why?"_

 _"It's to close the case," Bugs said, for the first time, the carrot on his hand untouched, "of the human's murder."_

 _"I'm going!" Roger announced from the chair they had considered tying him in._

 _Minnie put a hand on his shoulder. "They're not going to spare her even if you surrendered," she sympathetically said._

 _"Rhoda's my third cousin," Bugs said, "We'll be doing the rescue mission."_

 _"And Rhoda's my fourth cousin twice removed in my grandmother's maternal side by marriage," Oswald said, "I'm coming too."_

 _There was a pregnant, if not congested silence from everyone without bunny ears._

 _Bugs shrugged. "Nye, we rabbits are one big family."_

He looked back. How did the mountain get so far away?

In the end, Roger had owed all of them for the successful rescue mission. His sister was now with him. Alive and safe.

With _that_ husband.

Roger punched the mountain wall in frustration.

"Yeowch!" he cried, shaking his swollen knuckles. He hippety-hopped in place, rubbing his fist with whimpers.

Roger was about to give up with his long walk when he heard it.

A lady sobbing?

Confused, he crept towards some boulders. Hitching himself up, he peeked.

A covered wagon. A human, judging by her form, was sobbing on her hankie.

Pity welled up inside him. Before he could leap up from the boulders, Wiley's voice echoed.

 _"Don't let anyone see you."_

Roger snorted. He definitely knows what it's like to be stranded in the wilderness. Plus, she's a lady. She shouldn't be here.

He padded over to her direction.

"Hey! Miss?" he called out.

She continued sobbing, her dark, wide-brimmed hat covering her face. The scarlet feather on her hat quivered. Roger ambled nearer.

"Miss! Miss!" he hopped up and down beside the driver's seat.

The miss looked up and Roger's stomach dropped to his feet.

If Jesse is beauty masculinized, the woman was beauty feminized with the same wine-red hair and lush-green eyes.

The thought of Jesse turned off whatever thought of beauty in his mind.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

The lady dabbed her eyes with a lace hankie. "The wheel of my wagon got broken," she sniffed. "I couldn't fix it on my own!"

Roger puffed up his chest. "Don't worry, ma'am! I'll help ya! You really should be getting home."

She put a hand over her ample chest, framed with an off-shoulder corset, the colors of spades and hearts. "Oh you're such a dear. Thank you!"

Roger lifted a hand to help her down. He uncomfortably looked away when her leg daintily stepped out, encased in raven black thigh high stocking, pulled up with an equally lacey garter belt.

She dropped down her red-laced ruffled skirt as soon as both of her feet were on the ground. She dusted it off, dirt unnoticeable against its black fabric. Her parasol twirled in her hands, a purse swinging beside her cinched waist.

"What wheel's broken, ma'am?" he asked, peeking underneath the wagons.

"That one," she murmured, her arm, almost a shadow with her dark, netted glove that reached above her elbow.

Roger walked over to the covered wheel, a toolbox was surprisingly beside it. He lifted up the cover.

"Now what seems to be the prob-"

He stared at a perfectly undamaged wheel.

Roger ducked!

CLANG!

He rolled away, stopping in a crouch from a distance. The lady swished back an iron pan, the part of the wagon, dented.

"Killer Roger, wanted dead or alive," she coolly murmured. "You're coming with me."

Roger backed away. Rumors of bounty hunters were abundant to bandits. But there was one that Roger was never sure if it was true.

"I heard of you… You're Soiled Dove Derringer!"

Her pretty features weren't even marred with her frown. "I hate that name. Call me Jessica, your captor," she replied, cocking a pistol at him.

POW!

Jessica flinched, the pistol knocked out of her hand. Roger stood, his slingshot already stretched and loaded with a rock.

"Jessica, I really don't want to hurt you."

She pointed her parasol at him like a rifle, Roger's heart jumped into his mouth when he recognized a shotgun's barrel.

"Too bad," she replied.

BANG!

Roger leapt and zigzagged, scampering away. He huffed, legs pumping.

A horse neighed then a thunder of hooves. Roger looked back. The bounty hunter was pursuing him by steed.

"Jeepers!" he breathed, vaulting uphill, to the rockier paths. A trail not even a horse could climb, and hopefully, her too.

His ears were in high alert. Sound travels faster than bullets. As soon as he heard a gunshot, he sharply turned an angle. The ground exploded seconds where he had been. She was good. Terribly good.

He bounced over boulders, sliding over their surface. He dropped on the other side, huffing. He ran, desperate to get more distance between them.

Roger looked back when he heard scrapings. To his horror, the lady could climb. He stopped running when she teetered where she was balancing.

"Stop! You're too heavy!" he yelled.

Jessica froze before slowly looking at him. "Are you calling me fat?" she asked, her cold tone sending shivers up Roger's spine.

"No," he hastily said, wondering how she got that idea.

Roger swore upon his honor, that the next words that came out of his mouth was coincidental when she jumped down, her bodice bouncing. Her hand flew to stop it.

"I just think you need more support."

Gunshots echoed. Roger screamed. For someone who looked so stoic, her guns were certainly voicing her temper.

Rabbit feet ran pell-mell. He looked up. Salvation!

Twisting around, he pointed his slingshot at the rocks perched precariously on a cliff.

THWOK!

Jessica looked up as the wall of earth crumbled into an avalanche.

The side of the mountain rumbled, rocks tumbled down the path behind him. Roger leapt as far as he could, painfully crashing flat on his stomach. He gasped, his ears numb from too many explosions of lead and rubble.

He closed his eyes, panting. Did he do it? Was he able to escape?

CLICK.

Roger's eyes flew open. Cold metal pressed hard on the skull. A swift kick sent him to his back.

Jessica stood over him, the dust seemed sprinkled over her like a desert tempest. She pressed the barrel on his chest.

"Stupid. Smart. But not enough," she replied.

He blinked. "You should've stopped, you could've gotten crushed."

"Don't act like you care," she frostily aired. She jabbed the parasol-shotgun on his chest again. "Dead or alive, Roger. What would it be?"

"Okay! Okay!" he exclaimed, raising his hands in surrender. "I'll come with you! But on one condition!"

Dust lazily floated off her as her auburn hair fell over one eye. "You're not in the position to negotiate."

"Puh-puh-puh-lease!" he cried, his eyes desperate.

Her brows knitted into a frown. "Alright, what is it?"

Roger never knew what madness seized him. Was it near death experience? The craziness of the situation? Or was he just plain stupid?

He grinned. "Don't fall in love with me."

Her sultry eyes widened. Her pouty mouth stilled. Then her bare shoulders shook.

And the purest tinkling of bells escaped from the deadliest bounty hunter in the form of laughter.

Roger stared, almost entranced. If she didn't remind him of Jesse… maybe he would have noticed something.

 **XOXOXO**

Killer Roger. The first anthropomorph to kill a human in cold blood. The highest bounty yet in the west.

"I didn't kill him. Whoever he was," Roger said, hands and feet shackled as he sat in her wagon.

"Save it for the judge," Jessica dryly replied. "I just want the money."

She glanced back to see the rabbit scooping a motionless moth into his hands. He neared it to his face and blew into his cupped hands. She turned back to the road.

They say Killer Roger murdered a man by dropping a block of ice over him. Witnesses, Deputy Doom's men, said they saw the rabbit release the chains holding the ice. For what reasons, it was still being investigated.

They say it was theft for the man murdered was a sheriff. The death was merciless. The death was cruel. He was a dangerous criminal and she must be alert at all times.

There was joyful sound of exclamation and a moth fluttered past her.

"Fly away, little buddy," she heard the rabbit said.

 **XOXOXO**

The fire crackled. Jessica calmly spooned her bowl of beans.

For someone who was supposed to be a wanted criminal, Roger sure was talkative about a lot of things. Personal things.

He tipped the bowl to his lips, his arms and feet still heavy with shackles.

"I mean, I could have accepted _anyone_ for a brother-in-law. A far cousin. A duck. Heck, if Baby Herman wasn't that old, I would consider it!" he exclaimed.

"But that guy? Puh-puh-puh-lease! I heard he used to work for a rich old lady who-"

"You heard?"

A surprised Roger looked at the bounty hunter who had been silent all night. "Yeah, I heard that-"

"Have you ever talked to him?"

"No, but I know of him. He-"

"Why do you even hate him so much?" she cut through abruptly.

His ears pricked at the question he didn't know he was longing for someone to ask.

"Why?" he slowly asked. Something akin to fire began to take over his guts. "Why?! I got three reasons why!" he put aside the bowl, standing up.

"One," he said, thrusting up a finger. "I don't trust him!" He waved his arms as far as his shackles would let him. "He's rich. He's handsome. He's human. My sister's amazing! But there's absolutely no way he would be with a furry when humans see us below them. I'm not an idiot!"

He marched to and fro, worrying a path beneath his feet. "Number two," he announced, shoving two fingers into her view. "That guy is taking my sister away from me! She's avoiding me and I know he's got something to do with it! Number three-"

"You're being stupid," she bluntly said. "All night, I've been hearing you rant about this man and I've never heard of you giving him a chance. You didn't talk to him. You didn't even try to get to know him. You're too caught up in your own little drama."

She stared him down from her tall frame. "You took one look at him and made up your mind. Did you give him a chance? No. Did you even treat him with respect? I don't think so."

Jessica flipped her hair. "You may call yourself a rebel. But human or furry, you're all the same."

He stared, stung. Yet he have that sinking feeling that they were not just talking about him anymore.

 **XOXOXO**

BANG!

BANG!

They crouched low over the rocks. The bounty hunter silently cursed their geographical disposition.

"Jessica, you've got to unshackle my wrists!"

She didn't even bother looking up as she loaded a pistol. "And why would I do that?"

"Because they're shooting up there!"

BANG!

The rock exploded beside the rabbit. Roger yelled in surprise.

"Puh-puh-puh-lease! My slingshot too!"

With a swift click of her key, Roger grabbed his slingshot.

In the flitting silence of enemies reloading, he rolled into view, a rock in hand.

He angled ever so slightly and released. Then another. The rocks flew over into an arc… and dropped directly on top of the shooters in his hideout. A dull sound. Cries of pain. The shooting stopped.

Jessica stared in surprise. For someone who makes stupid jokes of himself...

Roger tugged her hand. "Let's go."

 **XOXOXO**

Jessica glowered at the shotgun parasol she was upgrading. Low-life bounty hunters. Lazy slackers who wanted other hunters' credit.

"Hey, don't be so mad," Roger said, looking at her face. He waved his arms in emphasis, restrained by shackles again. "I'm still here."

How come they're taken seriously just because they got a pair? While she has to work twice as hard to be taken professionally.

"I think you're a pretty good bounty hunter," Roger continued, unmindful of her face that gave nothing. "There were other hunters who tried to get me too."

She finally looked at the blabbering rabbit, her eyes still stern. Was he reading her mind now?

Roger shrugged. "Although I don't know why I'm still talking. I don't even know what you're thinking."

She abruptly stood up and went to her wagon. Roger shocked, just shrugged and jingled a tune using the shackles in his wrists.

A few minutes later, the wagon creaked. Roger glanced at her. Looked back at his chains. Then turned abruptly to her again.

Black, tattered overcoat floated behind her as she dropped down on the ground. Green eyes looked under the brim of a raven-dark cowboy's hat. She casually tossed her head, her red hair flashing against the sea of sable.

Roger stared, mouth hanging open. She sauntered closer to the fire. A black button-down covered her bosom. Spurs from her charcoal boots jingled in tandem with the guns holstered over her jean-clad hips.

"You can catch flies like that," Jessica commented.

Roger shook his head like a dog trying to get water out of his ears. He became more interested at moving the shackles around his ankles for a rhythm.

Crickets covered the awkward silence.

"I look like a man, I know," Jessica suddenly said, tired of his furtive glances.

"No!" Roger protested, beans flew from the serving spoon as he waved it. "You don't! You look-"

 _A deadly panther. A flame in the night. An ornate gun. A-_ he shook his head. Pepe le Pew's funny poetry sure was rubbing off him.

"I'm not a soiled dove," she said to no one in particular. "I," she raised her head, "am a bounty hunter."

Roger's eyes widened. "The dress before… it was a Delilah trap," he said slowly.

For someone who confuses "probate"with "prostate", the rabbit showed flashes of keen perception.

He suddenly laughed. "You didn't need to do that to trick me! I would've helped anyone."

Jessica frowned. Can he quit painting himself as a good guy?

"Besides, you already are pretty," he said with a shrug.

Jessica scooped herself a bowl of beans, glad that the light of fire was the same shade of flushing. "Sexy", "steaming" and other words a mother shouldn't hear. She heard it all.

Yet, his used of "pretty" feels different.

 **XOXOXO**

 _This is the Killer Roger?_

Jessica watched him with her horse, Benny, who was so finicky with people, he only let Jessica come near him. Roger laughed when Benny gave his ears an affectionate nip.

 _This is the killer Deputy Doom warns to the public?_

Another night. The bonfire crackled. Her pistol clicked.

"Stop!"

He slid in front of her pistol in protest. Shooing away her gun, he scolded her that the huge lizard only wanted to warm by the fire.

"It's not poisonous! You're scaring him," he worried, like some kind of a nanny. Or a big brother. Or a mother hen.

 _The manslayer…_

Jessica glanced up from the derringer she was cleaning. "I'll admit you know how to use that well. But that's a child's toy."

"I'm not going to touch those," Roger said, showing up his hands. "I don't like guns."

 _A dangerous criminal._

Most criminals she caught, she kept unconscious. This Roger, however...

He watched her chain him inside the wagon again. It was obvious he wanted to escape. He kept looking at the path they made behind. At the cover of the night, she could hear scratches and scrapings like he was attempting to picklock his shackles.

She walked away, pulling the his Wanted poster. The artist caught his image, alright. But it looked menacing, the drawing of Roger's face pulled into a snarl.

Roger was the most dangerous criminal that she had caught yet.

Why?

Roger treats her with kindness.

No, her job is to capture the bad guys and she would deliver.

 _Is he, really?_

 **XOXOXO**

Roger grunted, pulling the man off the cliff and into safety. He huffed, collapsing down beside him.

"Why did you save me?" ex-sheriff Eddie Valiant asked, chest rising and lowering.

The rabbit, who was looking up in the sky, turned his head to look him directly in the eye.

"I didn't kill your brother. I don't even know him."

Eddie snorted. "Right. Damn, you rabbit, you're more trouble than I thought."

"The deputy's men saw me saw them. They were surrounding his body," Roger said, looking up to the sky. "I don't know why but it wasn't the cherry of my life." He paused. "Why would anyone want to kill your brother?"

Eddie momentarily stopped breathing. Then his fist suddenly bashed the ground.

Roger leapt up. "Whoa! What's gotten into you?"

Eddie ignored him. Damnit. He had been such a fool. Too tunnel-visioned, he had followed the wrong lead.

"Freeze."

They both looked up to see Jessica pointing a gun at Eddie. Roger gulped. The more emotionless her face, the more gravely upset she was. He immediately went to her side.

"It's okay! He's weaponless! He's not going to try anything! You can take me!"

Another pistol was pointed at him. "Don't you dare run off from me again." She jerked her head to Eddie's direction. "This man wanted to kill you."

"You'd still get your bounty even if I'm dead," he reasoned.

"I am not going to try and find your corpse out there," she said swinging her arm to the expanse over the cliff.

Roger cocked his head. "That's why you look for vultures," he said, as though pointing the obvious.

Eddie rolled his eyes at the atrocity of their subject. If he didn't know any better, the crazy red woman _cared_.

"You might be getting over your head if you continue," Eddie grunted, sitting up. "Word in towns is, the Deputy is granting pardons to any criminal who happened to bring him. Dead or alive."

The strange duo paused. The rabbit began to hyperventilate. Then he began to scream. Then he began to run and jump around like a headless chicken.

The red woman in the black coat, beautiful and deadly to behold, simply put a hand on her chin thoughtfully.

"They want you bad, rabbit," was his offhand comment.

The screaming rabbit continued to panic. The lady simply held out her hand and caught him in the ears. She dragged him away, leaving Eddie to collapse back on the ground.

He didn't know how long he had lain there. But when he opened his eyes, it was dark.

Eddie stumbled, cursing, as he walked the barren path. He tried not to think about rattlesnakes and scorpions and lord knows what in the dessert.

Eyes widened when he saw a fire. A horse. A covered wagon. He neared.

The red-haired lady was sitting by the bonfire as though waiting for him.

"Where's the rabbit?" Eddie asked.

"I knocked him out and hid him so that he wouldn't get hurt," her emerald eyes squinted, "by you."

He dropped down near the flames, across from her. "That makes total sense."

"Did he do it?"

Eddie looked up sourly. "What do you care?"

She stood up; tall, graceful but an ominous black in the light of the bonfire. "Mr... Valiant, isn't it?" She strode and Eddie knew she knew he thought she was beautiful. Those eyes were on him, methodically noting every reaction of his body, deceitfully calm.

"My job," she walked around the flames, her long legs, wearing trousers, but still shapely, "is to capture bad guys."

She faced him and Eddie felt himself braced.

"But it's also a fine line of sending an innocent to his death."

 **XOXOXO**

They were surrounded. By anthropomorphs. From afar, Roger could even see Bug's silhouette.

Roger watched Jessica smirked. He watched in stunned silence when she unshackled his wrists and feet.

"Go now, my little bounty bait," she said.

He stared. She could have easily escaped the rebels' posse. Instead, it almost like she intentionally wanted them to be found.

"Bounty bait," Roger tested the words in his mouth. He nodded in understanding.

Jessica gave a low chuckle at his shocked face. "What? Have you grown attached to your captor?"

She wished she had met him differently. But she will make amends for that.

"Roger," she said, her tone suddenly quiet. "Do you still hate your brother-in-law for being human?"

The rabbit shook his head, his ears swishing. "I never hated him for being human." He shrugged. "You were right. It was because of what I thought he is."

Roger wondered why that made breathe a laugh.

She cupped his chin. "See you."

Roger searched her verdant eyes. Something told him he was going to see her again. Briefly, he wondered why he wondered if Rhoda would approve of her.

Jessica startled when Roger clasped her hands. Blue eyes, for once, looked at her solemnly.

"Keep that look," he said. Then he turned and ran. _I'm coming, Rhoda._

Jessica tipped her hat over her eyes. Her pouty lips smirked. All the little criminals after a tasty rabbit morsel.

Follow. Capture. Rinse. Repeat.

It's a strange way on how you meet a good man these days.

Even if he wasn't exactly a man.

 **XOXOXO**

"Look who came crawling back," Baby Herman drawled.

He saw the ex-sheriff scowl. Herman regarded Valiant Eddie crossed the room towards him.

"I'm not here for a job. I'm here for info," he growled. His dirty coat was almost in tatters, looking like it went through a gun fight. Wherever he had been, it certainly must be far from Ol' ToonTown.

Herman flicked ashes from his smoking cigar. He settled lazily in his master chair, the utter picture of power.

"I asked you to help me before. With a large sum of money in exchange," he casually mentioned. "And what did you do? You turned me down. Disrespectfully, I might add."

"I saw the rabbit you wanted to be found," Eddie clipped.

That made Herman stopped. His pulse quickened.

"Which one?" he slowly asked. He had tried to stop the doe, offered her protection. But Rhoda wanted her brother.

"The buck."

Herman snorted, his eyes glanced at a grainy photo of him and two other rabbits. Friends and perhaps family, if he would admit. "I'm not interested anymore."

No one can find someone who doesn't want to be found. But Rhoda had been persistent. He got his bags packed when news of her execution reached him. But when he got there, the Deputy was enraged. The people were abuzzed about rebel rescue. Or something like that. Herman gave up after. Wherever they were, they were better off not found now.

Eddie nailed him with a stare. "Tell me what you know, and I won't just help you find them. I'll help you clear the rabbit's name."

* * *

 **End of Chapter**

 **Thank you for taking a minute or two to give your feedback :)**

 **Author's Notes:** Characters of Disney and Warner Bros. used as minor characters. To get an idea of Jessica's outfit, go to Deviantart art /TS-Outlaws -Line-em-Up -197505016 it's a fanart of Toy Story 3 in a western au too. Jessica's Delilah trap dress was inspired by Saloon Girl Barbie. Jessica's bad-ass outfit was inspired by Outlaw Jessie (the yodelling cowgiril?).

I just want to say, thank you. If these stories made you cry or laugh, if you enjoyed these stories, thank you for enjoying them.


	7. Binary Swap Musical Number AU

**Chapter: Jeepers, Jess. I Think I Like You**

 **Summary:** Binary Swap AU Musical Song Number. What if Rhoda wasn't that oblivious with her feelings in her pre-relationship with Jesse? Inspired by the song "Oh My God, I Think I Like You" (Warning: You might not want to search the song, it's kind of sexually explicit. The fic isn't though).

 **Author's Notes:** If you want to enjoy this fic, I recommend you listen to the song first. **Warning** : the song is kind of explicit and based from an adult comedy sitcom. Simply search "Oh My God, I Think I Like You" song in Youtube.

* * *

"Bye, Jesse!" Rhoda waved at the retreating figure of her friend. With a sigh, she closes the door of her trailer, leaning against it. Bits and pieces of their conversations floated in her mind, feeling the warmth inside.

 _We've been spending some time for 3 months and a half_

 _Even when we're apart_

 _I mean, mentally we've been spending more time_

 _when I got you in my heart_

Night time and the clock ticks in the dark. Rhoda looked up to the ceiling, wondering what Jesse would say to the piece of news she heard awhile ago. Even to that new commercial jingle. Her ears curled and flopped on the pillows. She couldn't wait to hear what he'll say. She frowned, conscious of Mina's possible retort if she could read her mind. _Big deal? Who cares?_

She rolled to her side, knowing the answer to that question. What is wrong with her?

 _But as the days pass by more_

 _Something knocks me to the floor_

 _I feel somethin' deep inside I never felt before..._

Next day, another day of work. She lay there stunned, with Jesse shielding her from exploded debris -another filming accident. He didn't really need to do that. She's as resilient as the Looney Tunes. He's not. But still-

Emerald eyes looked down on her, his hands still on either side of her shoulders. "Are you alright?"

Her throat moved to swallow and out of her mouth, came a whisper.

 _"Jeepers, Jess. I think I..."_

What was with the paint pounding in her ears? Why did he saved her?

 _"Jeepers, Jess. I think I like..."_

After the barrel of toon gun powder had accidentally exploded in the set, the filming had been put on hold. Somehow, even after he saved her, she had still managed to hurt herself. She had scooted away from under him so fast, she had crashed into a crumbling wall.

She looked up to see Jesse handing her some ice. She really didn't need it but...

"At least you kept your promise to the director. You didn't blew off the roof this time," he said, an amused light in his gaze.

 _It's scary, but you send me back on my heels_

 _Cause while we share a laugh, I can't ignore the feels_

 _But I say_

 _"No no no! Jesse and I are just friends!"_ she repeated, knocking her forehead against a tree like a woodpecker.

 _And_

 _"No no no! This doesn't make sense!"_ she gasped, stars dancing around her cranium. She really should be using her break time for other purposes.

 _But then I feel the hearts popping around me like rain_

 _And all I can do is sing it again..._

Rhoda leaned against the trunk of the tree that she had been abusing with her forehead.

 _"Jeepers, Jess. I think I like..."_

She suddenly realized the hearts floating around her and she began to swat them like mosquitoes.

 _Why can't I just focus on the anvils falling_

 _Or ducking from these custard pies?_

Burying the past events at the back of her mind, Rhoda was back at work. Cameras rolling, she ducked and dived around the mayhem of iron and pastries. But then her heel slid on slippery fallen pie filling. The whole world slowed down as her arms windmilled, anvils still coming down like hail.

Under the pile of anvils and custards, Rhoda could hear the director yell "Cut!" She could feel someone tug her out, her arm and body stretching into ridiculous proportions. With a "pop!" they succeeded.

 _But even after getting a massive pounding_

 _I only want to look in your eyes_

Rhoda could see Jesse's concerned face through the tweeting birds around her head. "Are you okay?"

She could only smile goofily up at him.

 _But then it came to me faster than a speedy wink_

 _And suddenly, it's like jeepers, Jess. I think..._

" _I..."_ her voice croaked from out of nowhere. _"Jeepers, Jess. I think I like..._ "

But then she abruptly got up and dusted herself, wittering on about the misuse of large blocks of iron.

 _My feelings get stronger every day_

 _I'm like a little girl, I don't know what to say_

Rhoda pressed her forehead to her knees, curled up with her arms around her legs. Filming was done and no matter how much she liked their company, she needed to be alone.

 _Is there a dynamite that can get rid these feelings?_

 _Is there a mad-science-inator that can zap_

 _The fluttering in my heart?_

Shaking her head, her feet took off, wanting to expend the thoughts rambling inside her head. Jesse needed a friend. Not another admirer! She could see it in his eyes, he needed a companion. Not a-

 _Is there a T-N-T_

 _That can stop the image of you and me_

 _Getting married on the hillside, surrounded by ducks_

 _And then we get into a rowboat?_

She suddenly yelled fit for a horror movie, trying to block the vivid image of him carrying her bridal style in a frilly, white dress and veil.

Pink tones burned through her cheeks. Was she betraying him for how she's feeling? Would he get disgusted and avoid her like she's the creepy guy in the bus who sits right next to you?

Her feet screeched into a halt in a desert part of ToonTown, her chest rising as she gasped for a breathe. " _Jeepers_ , _Jess. I think I..."_ She impulsively reached for a lit cannonball bomb inside her hammerspace and shoved it in her earhole and into her head.

BOOM!

Rhoda coughed, the air smelling like burnt fur. Her singed clothes hissed. It was... worth a shot?

She put a hand on her chest, listening. But no. It was still there.

 _"Jeepers, Jess. I think I like y..."_

She shook her head hard, her eyes screwed shut. She couldn't. She mustn't.

Climbing out of the blackened and still smoking crater, she shook off the ashes. Clothes and fur returned back to their normal palette. Sighing, she plodded back to civilization.

 _But I say no no no_

Shoulders hunched, hands in her pockets, her feet wandered back to ToonTown's city part. She happened to glance up, her blue eyes catching the billboard ad of Jesse posing with a beautiful model.

 _No no no_

She stopped. Stared at the beautiful woman who has her arms around him. They looked quite a pair. A match made in Narcissus' heaven. Her eyes fell to the reflection on the shop window before her. A goofy, clumsy, noodle-y bunny whose ears couldn't even reach his shoulders standing up.

 _No no no..._

She turned her back from both images and walked away.

* * *

 **Author's Notes:** This was made purely out for fun. But I did wonder how would Roger deal if he realized he's in love with Jessica before they were together.


End file.
